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MASSACHUSETTS 



THE 



-HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS, 



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BY 

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PHILADELPHIA: 

LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO. 

1853. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by 

T. S. ARTHUR and W. H. CARPENTER, 

in the Clerk's OflSce of the District Court of the Eastern District of 
Pennsylvania. 

STEREOTYPED BT L. JOHNSON AND CO. 
PHILADELPHIA. 



PUBLISHERS' PREFACE. 



There are but few persons in this country who 
have not, at some time or other, felt the want of an 
accurate, well written, concise, yet clear and reliable 
history of their own or some other state. 

The want here indicated is now about being sup- 
plied; and, as the task of doing so is no light or 
superficial one, the publishers have given into the 
hands of the two gentlemen whose names appear in 
the title-page, the work of preparing a series of Cabi- 
net Histories, embracing a volume for each state in 
the Union. Of their ability to perform this well, we 
need not speak. They are no strangers in the literary 
world. What they undertake the public may rest 
assured will be performed thoroughly ; and that no 
sectarian, sectional, or party feelings will bias their 
judgment, or lead them to violate the integrity of 
history. 

The importance of a series of state histories like 
those now commenced, can scarcely be estimated. 
Being condensed as carefully as accuracy and interest 
of narrative will permit, the size and price of the 
volumes will bring them within the reach of every 
family in the country, thus making them home-read- 
ing books for old and young. Each individual will, 



6 publishers' preface. 

in consequence, become familiar, not only with the 
history of his own state, but with that of other states : 
— thus mutual interest will be re-awakened, and old 
bonds cemented in a firmer union. 

In this series of Cabinet Histories, the authors, 
while presenting a concise but accurate narrative of 
the domestic policy of each state, will give greater 
prominence to the personal history of the people. 
The dangers which continually hovered around the 
early colonists ; the stirring romance of a life passed 
fearlessly amid peril; the incidents of border war- 
fare; the adventures of hardy pioneers; the keen 
watchfulness, the subtle surprise, the ruthless attack, 
and prompt retaliation — all these having had an im- 
portant influence upon the formation of the American 
character, are to be freely recorded. While the progres- 
sive development of the citizens of each individual state 
from the rough forest-life of the earlier day to the 
polished condition of the present, will exhibit a pic- 
ture of national expansion as instructing as it is inte- 
resting. 

The size and style of the series will be uniform 
with the present volume. The authors, who have 
been for some time collecting and arranging materials, 
will furnish the succeeding volumes as rapidly as their 
careful preparation will warrant. 



PREFACE. 



Quite a number of histories of Massachu- 
setts have already been written by diiferent 
authors, but they are, for the most part, con- 
fined to various periods anterior to the Revolu- 
tion. Though invaluable as sources of informa- 
tion, these works contain much that is of no 
possible interest to the general reader ; and 
are, besides, of so bulky and expensive a charac- 
ter that they can scarcely be regarded as coming 
within the ordinary scope of popular demand. 

In writing the present book, the aim has been 
to carefully compare and adjust the accounts 
given of the origin and progress of the state 
by the most reliable authorities ; to narrate faith- 



8 PREFACE. 

fully every event necessary to a proper know- 
ledge of the people and the institutions by 
which they have been governed; and, by con- 
densing prolix details of no historical import- 
ance, to present within a reasonable compass 
all the essential facts which have hitherto been 
comprised in many volumes. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



Early voyages to the New World — Bartholomew Gosnold — 
Exploration of the northern coasts of America — Attempt 
to found a colony in Buzzard's Bay — Its failure — Voyage 
of Pring — The harbours of Kennebunk, York, and Pisca- 
taqua discovered — Voyage of Weymouth — Five Indians 
kidnapped and sent to England — Formation of the Ply- 
mouth and London Companies — Voyages to the coast 
— The Sagadahoc settlement — Its abandonment — Voyage 
of Smith to the northern coast — His successful traffic with 
the natives — His map of the country — Names it New 
England — Reanimation of the rival companies — Smith's 
second voy<age — Is encountered by a pirate — Is pursued by 
a French vessel of war — Discontent of the crew — Smith's 
resolute behaviour — Is hemmed in by the French fleet — 
Liberation of his vessel — Treachery of his crew — Smith 
detained a French prisoner — Escapes in a storm — Reaches 
England — Punishment of the mutineers — His ajipeal to the 
western gentry in behalf of colonial settlements Page 19 

CHAPTER XL 

Struggles of Puritanism — Accession of James I. — Petition 
for redress of ecclesiastical grievances — Puritans ordered to 
conform — Oppressive conduct toward them — Their separa- 
tion and dispersal — Congregation of Mr. Robinson — Take 
refuge in Amsterdam — Piemoved to Leyden — Their stead- 
fastness and probity — A colony in America contemplated — 
Negotiation with the Virginia Company — Petition to the 
king — The patent accepted— A partnership formed with 
London merchants — Embarkation at Delft Haven — Junction 
with the Mayflower at Southampton — Accident to the 
Speedwell — The Mayflower sails alone — Arrival in Cape 
Cod harbour — Mutual compact drawn up — Explorations by 
land and water — Sufferings of the exploring parties — A 
child born — Final exploration under Governor Carver — The 
camp surprised by Indians — A bloodless victory — The 
cruise continued — A dangerous storm — Disembarkation on 
Clark's Island — Examination of Plymouth harbour — Land- 
ing of ihQ Pilgrims 32 

9 



10 CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER III. 

A military company organized — Distribution of the settlers 
into families — Buildings commenced — Great sickness among 
the colonists — Fearful loss of life — Death of Carver — De- 
parture of the Mayflower — Appearance and salutation of 
Samoset — Visit of Massasoit — Squanto the interpreter — The 
earliest offences against the laws of the colony — The mode 
of punishment — Tardy convalescence of the sick — Embassy 
to Massasoit — Jealousy of Corbitant, a Narraganset sachem 
— His seizure of Squanto — His village surprised by Stan- 
dish — Alarm of the neighbouring Indians — Treaty of 
amity and dependence — Arrival of colonists — Symbolical 
message of Canonicus — Bradford's bold retort — Its success 
— Plymouth fortified — Standish undertakes a voyage to 
Massachusetts Bay — Is dissuaded from it by Hobbamock 
— Wily device of Squanto — The expedition broken up — 
Deceit of Squanto discovered — His life demanded by Mas- 
sasoit — Forbearance of Bradford — Arrival of Weston's 
colonists — Their reckless and dissipated character — Death 
of Squanto Page 48 

CHAPTER IV. 

The coasting voyage abandoned — TraflBc with the Massachu- 
setts Indians — Accident to the shallop — Prospects of an 
Indian conspiracy — Illness of Massasoit — Winslow's jour- 
ney to him — False account of Massasoit's death — Reception 
of Winslow — Recovery of Massasoit — His gratitude — The 
plot revealed — Winslow returns to Plymouth — Action of the 
general court — Standish departs for Weymouth — Arrives in 
the harbour — The Swan deserted — AVretched condition of 
Weston's people — The intentions of Standish suspected by 
the Indians — Their daring conduct — Speech of Pecksuot to 
Hobbamock— Of Wituwamat— The conflict— Death of the 
chief conspirators — Fortunate result — Grief of Mr. Robin- 
son 



CHAPTER V. 

Gratitude of the colonists— Captain Robert Gorges- His char- 
ter for part of Massachusetts Bay — Appointed Lieutenant- 
Governor for New England — West commissioned as admi- 
ral — Weston's plantation re-opened — 111 success of Gorges 
— He quits the country — West sails for Virginia— John 
Pierce — His charter — Purchased by the Plymouth Company 
— Arrival of third supply — Day of thanksgiving ordered— 
Winslow sails for England— Returns—John Lyfurd— Reli- 



63 



CONTENTS. 11 



gious disputes — "Wollaston's plantation — Morton of Merry 
Mount — His capture and imprisonment — Lyford and Conant 
at Nantucket — Settlement at Naumkeag — Origin of the 
Massachusetts Company — Patent obtained — Arrival of En- 
dicott and others at Naumkeag — Second supply for Massa- 
chusetts — Organization of the church at Salem — Expulsion 
of the Brownes — The charter transferred to Massachu- 
setts — Embarkation of Winthrop — Sufferings of the colo- 
nists — Arabella Johnson — Isaac Johnson — His death and 
burial Page 75 



CHAPTER VI. 

Siettlements in New England — Discouraging reports — Win- 
throp — His piety and beneficence — Political changes — Ar- 
rival of Cotton and Stone — Dudley chosen governor — Power 
of the commons asserted — First house of delegates — Emi- 
gration — Charges preferred in England against the Massa- 
chusetts colony — The demand for a return of the charter 
evaded — Morton's letters — Preparations for defence — Civil 
dissensions — Roger Williams — Asserts freedom of con- 
science — Is banished — Settles Rhode Island — Opposition 
to Winthrop — His accusers rebuked — Arrival of Vane and 
Hugh Peters — Fort Saybrook built — Emigration to Connec- 
ticut — Popularity of Vane — Chosen governor of Massa- 
chusetts — Growing discontent — Anne Hutchinson — Her 
doctrines — Supported by Vane — Warm religious disputes 
— Convention of churches — Banishment of Wheelwright 
and Mrs. Hutchinson — Her tragic death — War with the 
Pequods — Advance into their country — Attack on Mistick 
Fort — Pursuit of Sassacus — Extermination of the Pequod 
tribe 87 



CHAPTER VII. 

New Haven founded — Increase of emigration — Harvard Col- 
lege established — Population of the province — Emigration 
checked — Feeling of discouragement in New England — The 
Bahama Islands — Colonists from New England — Fired upon 
by the Spaniards — Return of the adventurers — Commis- 
sioners sent to England — Pate of Hugh Peters — Wheel- 
right — Settles at Exeter — Underbill — His banishment from 
Massachusetts— Becomes governor of Exeter — Is forcibly 
expelled — The jurisdiction of Massachusetts extended — 
Indian plot — Conduct of Miantinomo — Gorton — His doc- 
trines — Whipped at Plymouth — At Rhode Island — Removes 
to Providence — Settles at Shawomet — Is arrested and car- 
ried to Boston — Harsh sentence imposed upon him and his 



12 CONTENTS. 



followers — Union of the New England colonies — Indian 
war — Execution of Miantinomo — Submission of the Narra- 
gansets — Witchcraft in Massachusetts — Instance of credu- 
lity — Death of Winthrop — His character Page 102 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Civil war in England — Neutrality of Massachusetts — Ita 
charter endangered — Death of Charles I. — Parliament as- 
serts its supremacy over the colonies^Massachusetts re- 
monstrates — AVar declared between England and Holland 
— The colonies called upon to render assistance — Action of 
Massachusetts — Capture of Acadia by the English fleet — 
Executions for witchcraft — Oliver Cromwell — His proposi- 
tion to transfer the Puritan commonwealth to Ireland — His 
second proposition — Their reasons for declining to emigrate 
Persecution of the Quakers — Their origin — Fanaticism and 
spirit of proselytism — Perrot's journey to Rome — Mission 
to the Turkish Sultan — Arrival of the Quakers in Massa- 
chusetts — Their arrest, imprisonment, and banishment — 
New laws passed against the Quakers — The exiles return to 
invite persecution — Arrival of Mary Clarke — Her special 
mission — Fanatical conduct of the sect — Made amenable to 
death on returning from banishment — Execution of Marma- 
duke Stephenson, William Robinson, Mary Dyer, and Wil- 
liam Ledra — Arrival of Wenlock — His arrest and condem- 
nation — Release of the imprisoned Quakers 112 



CHAPTER IX. 

Governors of Massuchusetts — Restoration of Charles II. — 
Arrival of Whalley and GoflFe — Their arrest ordered — 
Charges preferred against the colony — Project for a go- 
vernor-general of the New England provinces — Action of 
the general court — Agents appointed to proceed to London 
—Response of the king — Change required in the Massachu- 
setts government — Additional complaints — Appointment of 
royal commissioners — Their arrival at Boston — Embark for 
New York — Capture of that province from the Dutch — Re- 
turn of the commissioners — Their arbitrary proceedings — 
Difficulties with the general court — Report to the king — 
Deputies ordered to be sent to London — Prosperity of 
Massachusetts — King Philip's war — Christian Indians — The 
Wampanoag and Narraganset tribes — Cause of the war — 
Massacre at Swanzey — Mount Hope taken — Narraganseta 
constrained to remain neutral — Progress of the war — 
Brookfield attacked— Deerfield burned— Northfield aban- 
doned—Attempt on Hatfield — Alarm in Massachusetts— 
21 



CONTENTS. 13 



Extraordinary levies — Slaughter of the Narragansets — 
Lancaster burned — Groton, Chelmsford — Medfield attacked 
— Warwick and Providence devastated — Massacres in Ply- 
mouth colony — Activity of the colonists — Capture and exe- 
cution of Canonicus — Pursuit of Philip — His death. ..Page 123 

CHAPTER X. 

Charter of Massachusetts threatened — Agents sent to England 
— Their return — The charter vacated — Dudley appointed 
president — Andros appointed governor of all the New Eng- 
land provinces — His exactions and tyrannical conduct — 
Revolution in England — Insurrection in Massachusetts — 
Deposition and imprisonment of Andros — Bradstreet chosen 
president — AVar between England and France — Activity of 
Frontenac — Cocheco devastated — Pemaquid attacked and 
taken — Schenectady burned — Settlement at Salmon Falls 
surprised — Capture of fort at Casco Bay — Phipps captures 
Port Royal — Expedition to Canada — Its ill success — Issue 
of paper money — New charter of Massachusetts — Phipps 
appointed governor — Salem witchcraft — Cotton Mather — 
Spread of the delusion — Its terrible effects throughout the 
colony — Execution of Mr. Burroughs — Flight of the Brad- 
streets — Accusation of Lady Phipps — Reaction — Conduct 
of Judge SeweU— Of Mr. Parrish 138 

CHAPTER XL 

Sir "William Phipps — Fort built at Pemaquid — Treaty with the 
eastern Indians — Dissatisfaction in Massachusetts — Diffi- 
culties with Phipps — Summoned to England to answer 
charges — His acquittal and death — Stoughton's administra- 
tion — French and Indian hostilities — Descent on Durham 
— Recapture of Port Royal — Destruction of the fort at Pe- 
maquid — Expedition of Church to the Bay of Fundy — 
Andover and Haverhill attacked — Peace of Ryswick — Arri- 
val of Earl of Bellamont — His popular course — Dudley ap- 
pointed governor — Disputes with the assembly — War be- 
tween England, France, and Spain — Settlements in Maine 
destroyed — Burning of Deerfield — Charges against Dudley 
— Unsuccessful expedition against Port Royal — Expedition 
organized against Canada — Its disastrous result — Treaty of 
Utrecht — Unpopularity of Dudley — His recall — Governor 
Shute — His quarrel with the general court — Returns to 
England — Administration of Dunmore — Governor Burnet — 
His difficulties and death — Arrival of Governor Belcher — 
War with Spain — Paper money agitation in Massachusetts 
— Removal of Belcher — Governor Shirley — War with France 

— Capture of Louisburg — Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle 150 

2 



14 CONTEXTS. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Prosperous condition of Massachusetts — Duplicity of Shirley 
— He sails for England — The provincial laws — Their revi- 
sion advised by the English ministry — Cape Breton restored 
to the French — Chagrin of Massachusetts — The province 
indemnified for the expense of the Louisburg expedition — 
Returns to specie (?urrency — Difficulties between England 
and France — Boundary dispute — Acadia — French encroach- 
ment — The Ohio Company — Advance of the French — Cap- 
ture of unfinished works at the forks of the Ohio — George 
Washington — His Skirmish with Jumonville — Retreats to 
Great Meadows — Capitulates and retires across the moun- 
tains — Convention at Albany — Union of colonies dis- 
cussed — Plan of Franklin accepted — Its rejection by the 
colonies — Scheme of the Board of Trade — Action of Mas- 
sachusetts — Arrival of Braddock — Plan of campaign — Ex- 
pedition to Acadia — The Acadians — Their primitive man- 
ners — Their happy pastoral life — Success of the expedition 
— Deportation of the Acadians Page 164 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Expedition against Crown Point — Fort Edward built — Ap- 
proach of Dieskau — Defeat and death of Colonel Williams 
— Battle of Lake George — Shirley's advance to Oswego — 
Defeat of Braddock — Expedition to Niagara abandoned — 
Shirley appointed commander-in-chief — His military pro- 
jects — His recall — Loudoun appointed commander-in-chief 
— Arbitrary laws passed by parliament — Capture of Oswego 
by Montcalm — The provincial forces disbanded — Campaign 
of 1757 — Loudoun's unsuccessful expedition to Louisburg 
— Fort William Henry captured by Montcalm — Extraordi- 
nary panic in the provinces — Imbecile conduct of Loudoun 
— His quarrel with Massachusetts — Submission of the 
general court — Popularity of Governor Pownall — Cam- 
paign of 1758 — Pitt's vigorous and popular measures — Aber- 
crombie appointed commander-in-chief — Embarks on Lake 
George — Advance against Ticonderoga — Skirmish and 
death of Lord Howe — Defeat of Abercrombie 180 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Surprise of Fort Frontenac by Bradstreet — Capture of Louis- 
burg — Washington takes possession of Fort Duquesne — 
Campaign of 1759 — Exertions of Pitt — Response of Massa- 
chusetts — Fort Niagara invested by Pfideaux — His death 
— Defeat of the French and capture of Fort Niagara by Sir 
William Johnson — Desertion of Ticonderoga — Of Crown 



CONTENTS. 15 



Point — Quebec invested by Wolfe — Battle of the Plains of 
Abraham — Wolfe and Montcalm mortally wounded — Sur- 
render of Quebec — Movements of Amherst — Governor Ber- 
nard — His speech to the Massachusetts legislature — Re- 
sponses of the council and house of representatives — Illegal 
conduct of the revenue officers — Writs of assistance — Hutch- 
inson appointed chief justice — James Otis — Opposition to 
the writs of assistance — Argument on behalf of their legal- 
ity — The case argued — Speech of Oxenbridge Thatcher — 
Of James Otis the younger — Its eifect upon the people — Un- 
constitutional act of Bernard — Its denunciation by Otis — 
Public avowal of his principles Page 196 

CHAPTER XV. 

Feud between the regulars and provincials — Good understand- 
ing among the several provinces — Condition of England — 
Financial embarrassments — Project to tax America — Parlia- 
ment asserts the right to tax the colonies — The Stamp Act 
proposed — Colonial agitation — Massachusetts remonstrates 
— Passage of the Stamp Act — Proceedings in Boston — The 
Virginia resolutions — A congress of colonial delegates recom- 
mended — Petition and remonstrances forwarded to Eng- 
land — Riots in Boston — Personal safety of Hutchinson en- 
dangered — Resignation of the stamp-distributors — Repeal 
of the stamp-tax — Whigs and Tories — Opposition to the 
Revenue laws — Increasing unpopularity of Governor Ber- 
nard — Townsend's bill for taxing America — Its reception in 
Boston — Message of Bernard to the house of representa- 
tives — The legislature adjourned — Seizure of the sloop 
Liberty — Alarm of the commissioners of customs — Popular 
demonstration — Public meeting called — The house of re- 
presentatives dissolved — Arrival of troops — Convention of 
provincial delegates at Faneuil Hall 208 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Arrival of troops in Boston — Action of the council — Quartered 
in the city — General Gage — Popular alarm and indignation 
— British instructions to Bernard — Virginia supports Massa- 
chusetts — Repeal of all taxes except the duty on tea — Ber- 
nard summoned to England — Disclosure of his letters — Po- 
pular indignation — Spirited conduct of the legislature — De- 
parture of Bernard — Governor Hutchinson — His policy — 
Dissatisfaction in Boston — Collision with the troops — Mas- 
sacre of the 3d of March — Arrest and trial of Captain 
Preston and his soldiers — The verdict — Anniversary cele- 
bration of the massacre — The seat of government — The 
governor and judges to be paid by the crown — Protest of 



16 CONTENTS. 



the general court — Alarm of the people — Resolutions drawn 
up — Unanimity of the provincial towns — Uneasiness of 
Hutchinson — Public agitation — Virginia declares a union of 
the colonies necessary — Hutchinson's letters — Charges pre- 
ferred against him— His trial and acquittal— His recall.Pa^e 222 

CHAPTER XVII. 

The tax upon tea — Its repeal agitated — Non-importation 
agreement — Drawback allowed on tea — Its shipment to 
America— Conduct of Pennsylvania, New York, South Caro- 
lina, Massachusetts — Destruction of tea in Boston harbour 
— Port of Boston closed — Gage appointed governor — Re- 
ception of the Boston port bill — Action of the colonies — A 
national congress recommended — Warlike preparations — 
Convention at Milton — National congress at Philadelphia — 
Provincial congress at Salem — At Cambridge — Committee 
of Safety organized — AVard and Pomeroy appointed gene- 
rals of militia — British detachment ordered to Concord — 
Skirmish at Lexington — At Concord — Gathering of the 
provincials— Retreat of the British— Advance of Lord Percy 
— Arrival of the regulars at Charlestown — British and 
American loss — Congress of Massachusetts — Additional 
levies ordered— Address to the people of Great Britain 235 

CHAPTER XVIIL 

Reception by the colonies of the battle of Lexington — Boston 
invested by the provincials — Green commissioned by Rhode 
Island — Putnam appointed to command the Connecticut 
troops — Stark arrives with reinforcements from New Hamp- 
shire — Meeting of the continental congress — Capture of 
Ticonderoga and Crown Point by Allen and Warner — Gage 
proclaims martial law — Intrenchments thrown up on Breed's 
Hill — Movements of the British — Battle of Breed's or 
Bunker Hill — Death of Warren — Washington appointed 
commander-in-chief — His arrival in camp before Boston — 
Siege of Boston — Provincial government organized — Fal- 
mouth bombarded and burned — Privateering encouraged 
by the general court — Reassembling of the continental con- 
gress — The army reorganized — Patriotic conduct of Colonel 
Whitcombe — Gage recalled — Howe appointed commander- 
in-chief of the English forces — Washington prepares to 
assault Boston — The town abandoned by the enemy 249 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Massachusetts during the war — Washington in New York — 
Capture of English transports — Invasion of Canada by 



CONTENTS. 17 



Montf^omcry — March of Arnold through the wilderness — 
His appearance before Quebec — His junction with Montgo- 
mery — Attack on Quebec — Death of Montgomery and re- 
treat of Arnold — Canada evacuated by the Americans — De- 
claration of Independence — Success of Carleton — Evacua- 
tion of New York — Washington's retreat across the Jerseys 
— Defeat of the Hessians — Skirmish at Princeton — Howe's 
movements — Battle of Brandywine — of German town — Bur- 
goyne descends from Canada — Battle of Bennington — Of 
Saratoga — Surrender of Burgoyne — Treaty with France — 
Philadelphia evacuated by Howe — Battle of Monmouth — 
Arrival of the French squadron — Newport invested — Defeat 
of Sullivan — Virginia harassed by the British — Georgia in- 
vaded — Conquest of South Carolina — Defeat of Gates — 
Hancock elQpted governor of Massachusetts — Movements of 
Greene — Battle of Guilford Court House — Cornwallis enters 
Virginia — Siege of Yorktown — Surrender of Cornwallis.Pa^e 262 

CHAPTER XX. 

Prospects of peace — Memorial of the general court — Right of 
the fisheries — Exhausted condition of the confederated states 
— Disaffection in the American army — Peace proclaimed — 
DiflRculties in Massachusetts — Indebtedness of the State — 
Popular discontent — Bowdoin chosen governor — His address 
to the people — National convention called — State convention 
at Hatfield — Internal discord — Popular disturbances — Ac- 
tion of the legislature — Riots at Worcester — Daniel Shays 
the popular leader — Proposes to march to Boston — Winter 
quarters of the rioters — Their conduct at Springfield — Tho 
militia called out — Armory at Springfield attacked — Defeat 
of the insurgents — Petition for pardon — Activity of General 
Lincoln — Capture of the rioters — Restoration of tranquillity 276 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Delegates sent to the national convention — Hancock re-elected 
governor — Adoption of the federal constitution — Formation 
of parties — Fervid political discussions — Federalists and 
anti-federalists — Virginia calls for a new convention — 
Amendments to the constitution by congress — Reviving 
prosperity in Massachusetts — Agriculture and manufactures 
encouraged — Death of Hancock — Samuel Adams elected 
governor — National difiiculties with France and England — 
Treaty stipulations with France — Arrogant conduct of Genet 
— Washington's policy of neutrality approved — Sympathy 
for the French republic — Rejoicings in Boston — Hamilton's 
funding system— Sustained by Washington— Federal and 
republican differences — Party rancour and animosity — 
2* 



18 CONTENTS. 

Charges against the Federalists and Republicans— Jay's 
treaty — Its reception in Massachusetts — Denounced by 
the Republicans— Ratified by the senate — Riotous pro- 
ceedings Page 291 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Politics of Massachusetts — Increase of the federal party — Dif- 
ficulties with France — Conduct of the French Directory — 
Return of Pinckney — Decree against American seamen — 
New envoys despatched to France — Negotiations abandon- 
ed by Pinckney and Marshall — Indignation in America — 
Preparations for war — Popularity of the federal party — 
Progress of Massachusetts — " Quasi" war with France — 
Buonaparte first consul — Treaty of peace — Secessii)ns from 
the federal party — Alien and sedition laws — Denounced by 
Kentucky and Virginia — Defended by Massachusetts — 
Election of JetFerson to the presidential chair — Rapid de- 
cline of the federal party — Foreign relations — English ag- 
gressions — Unsuccessful mission of Monroe and Pinckney 
— Berlin decree and order in council — Their effect upon 
American commerce — Affair of the Chesapeake and Leo- 
pard — Adoption of the embargo — Revival of the federal 
party — The embargo denounced in Massachusetts — Address 
of Governor Lincoln — Response of the general court — In- 
crease of the democratic party in Massachusetts — Efforts 
of the federaUsts 304 



CHAPTER XXIIL 

Declaration of war against Great Britain — Opposition and 
adverse resolutions of Massachusetts — Governor Strong's 
defence of state rights — Difficulties between the state and 
national authorities— Strength of the peace party in Massa- 
chusetts — Distress of the people along the sea-coast — Cla- 
mour against the national administration — Massachusetts 
charged with desiring to secede from the Union — Appro- 
priations for defence of the state— The war denounced— The 
manufacture of woollen and cotton goods — Embargo Act 
passed by congress — Excitement against it in Massachu- 
setts — Massachusetts supports Vermont in defence of state 
rights — Concession made to the federal authorities — East- 
port, Castine, and Belfast captured by the enemy — Sloop- 
of-war Adams burned — Machias taken — Additional appro- 
priations made by the general court — Hartford convention 
— Measures advised by that body — Subsequent action of 
congress — Impoverished condition of Massachusetts- 
Treaty of peace — Separation from Maine — Convention to 
amend the state constitution 315 



HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Early voyages to the New World — Bartholomew Gosnold — 
Exploration of the northern coasts of America — Attempt to 
found a colony in Buzzard's Bay — Its failure — Voyage of 
Pring — The harbours of Kennebunk, York, and Piscataqua 
discovered — Voyage of Weymouth — Five Indians kidnapped 
and sent to England — Formation of the Plymouth and 
London companies — Voyages to the coast — The Sagadahoc 
settlement — Its abandonment — Voyage of Smith to the 
northern coast — His successful traffic with the natives — His 
map of the country — Names it New England — Reanima- 
tion of the rival companies — Smith's second voyage — Is 
encountered by a pirate — Is pursued by a French vessel of 
war — Discontent of the crew — Smith's resolute behaviour — 
Is hemmed in by the French fleet — Liberation of his vessel — 
Treachery of his crew — Smith detained a French prisoner — 
Escapes in a storm — Reaches England — Punishment of the 
mutineers — His appeal to the western gentry in behalf of 
colonial settlements. 

In the year 1602, Bartholomew Gosnold, an 
old and experienced mariner, sailed from Eng- 
land on a trading voyage to the New World. 
Pursuing a more direct course than was cus- 
tomary at that period, he first made land between 
the forty-second and forty-third degrees of north 
latitude. Not finding a suitable harbour, he 
sailed to the southward, and, disembarking on 

19 



20 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1602. 

the semi-circular tongue of land, whicli forms 
the south-eastern entrance to Massachusetts 
Bay, named the promontory Cape Cod. After 
a brief examination of the country, Gosnold 
continued his course to the southward, passed by 
Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, and, enter- 
ing Buzzard's Bay, landed on the westernmost 
of a group of small islands, to which, in honour 
of his aged sovereign, he gave the name of 
Elizabeth. 

Here, attracted by the luxuriant vegetation, 
and by the fragrant softness of the summer air, 
he determined to lay the foundation of a settle- 
ment. Selecting a rocky islet in the midst of a 
pond, for the protection of those whom he de- 
signed to leave behind him, he built a fort and 
storehouse upon it ; keeping, at the same time, 
a portion of the ship's company busily em- 
ployed in trading with the neighbouring Indians 
for fur, or in gathering sassafras, an article 
which, at that period, was held in great esteem 
for its medicinal virtues. When, however, the 
lading of his small bark was completed, the men 
who at first had been willing to remain, began 
to reflect more seriously upon the danger to 
which so small a company would be exposed, 
and finally concluded to return to England. 

The success which attended the voyage of 
Gosnold induced a few English merchants and 
gentlemen adventurers to fit out two ships, for 



1603.] pring's voyage. 21 

the purpose of collecting sassafras, and of trad- 
ing with the Indians for peltry. The command 
of these vessels was given to Martin Pring. He 
set sail from England on the 10th of April, 
1603, and crossing the Atlantic without meeting 
any disaster, anchored in the Bay of Penobscot. 
Sailing thence southward, in search of sassafras, 
he discovered the harbours of Kennebunk, York, 
and Piscataqua ; but being still unsuccessful in 
the object of his voyage, he continued his course 
south, until he reached Martha's Vineyard. 
Freighting one of his ships with sassafras, and 
the other with fur, he returned to England after 
a prosperous voyage of six months. 

The cheering accounts given by Gosnold and 
Pring of the country along which they had re- 
spectively coasted, stimulated other merchants 
and adventurers to fit out vessels for purposes 
of exploration and commerce. Notwithstand- 
ing the failure of repeated attempts to find a 
shorter passage to the East Indies, there were 
yet some ardent minds who believed such a dis- 
covery possible. Among those who still enter- 
tained a sanguine hope of reaching India by a 
north-west route, were the Earls of Arundel and 
Southampton ; the former a nobleman of an 
enterprising spirit, and the latter better known 
as the patron of Shakspeare. Under the auspices 
of these noblemen an expedition was organized, 
the command of which was given to Captain 



22 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1606. 

George Weymouth, a mariner of experience, who 
had already explored the bleak coast of Labrador. 
Sailing again from England in 1605, he entered 
the Penobscot Bay, and discovering the noble 
river of the same name which flows into it, 
ascended its western branch as far as Belfast 
Bay. 

Returning soon after, Weymouth carried with 
him five of the natives of those regions, three 
of whom he presented to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, 
the governor of Plymouth, a gentleman less 
known as the friend of Sir Walter Raleigh, than 
as an ardent adventurer who subsequently ex- 
pended large sums of money in attempting to 
found settlements upon the continent. 

In 1606, three years after the accession of 
James I. to the English throne, that monarch 
granted to two rival companies twelve degrees 
of latitude on the American coast. The region 
of country embraced within this patent ex- 
tended from Cape Fear to Halifax. The first 
of these companies consisted of noblemen and 
others, residing in and around London, and was 
thence called the London Company. The second, 
known as the Plymouth Company, was composed 
of adventurers whose abode was in the west of 
England, but who were principally citizens of 
Bristol or Plymouth. The region patented was 
divided by the grant into three equal parts. 
The London adventurers were to occupy the 



1609.] SETTLEMENT ON THE KENNEBEC. 23 

country lying between the thirty-fourth and 
thirty-eighth degrees of latitude; or, in other 
words, between Cape Fear and the southern 
limit of Maryland; while the Plymouth Com- 
pany were empowered to found settlements be- 
tween the forty-first and forty-fifth degrees of 
latitudes, — the space between being left open to 
the competition of both. 

The most prominent members of the Plymouth 
Company were Sir John Popham, Lord Chief 
Justice of England, and Sir Ferdinando Gorges. 
In 1606, a small vessel sent by this company 
on a voyage of exploration, being driven by stress 
of weather to the West Indies, was seized by 
the Spaniards; but another ship, fitted out at 
the sole expense of Sir John Popham, and com- 
manded by Martin Pring, returned with such 
favourable accounts of the country that a settle- 
ment was at once resolved upon. 

In 1609, two vessels, having on board about 
one hundred colonists, and two of the Indians 
previously taken to England by Weymouth, set 
sail for America, and commenced a settlement 
on an island at the mouth of the Kennebec, or, 
as it was then called, the Sagadahoc River. 

Over this small colony, which had beep or- 
ganized rather under an impression of its pros- 
pective greatness than in accordance with its 
present numbers, George Popham had been ap- 
pointed president, and Raleigh Gilbert admiral. 



24 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1609. 

A fort, a storehouse, and several rude dwellings 
were speedily erected for the accommodation of 
the settlers; and, on the 5th of December, the 
ships returned to England, leaving behind them 
forty-five of the company. The usual disasters 
soon followed. During the winter, which was 
one of unusual severity, the president died. 
The storehouse taking fire was burned to the 
ground. Chief Justice Popham and Sir John 
Gilbert, two of the principal members of the 
Plymouth Company, dying in England about the 
same time, Raleigh Gilbert, the admiral, became 
heir to his brother's estate. Already disheart- 
ened by the unexpected severity of the climate, 
and deprived of those comforts to which they 
had been accustomed at home, the colonists 
gladly seized upon these losses as an excuse for 
abandoning the plantation. 

An attempt to found a plantation at Nova 
Scotia, in 1609, was attended with similar results. 
The trade with the Indians was, however, still 
kept up ; and fishing voyages to the coast of 
Maine were found sufiiciently lucrative to en- 
courage their continuance. 

For some years no farther efforts at settle- 
ment were made. Disheartened by the accounts 
of those who, to shield their own conduct from 
the reproach of timidity, had represented the 
country as a " cold, barren, mountainous, rocky 
desert," the Plymouth Company appeared re- 



1614.] smith's voyage. 25 

luctant to expend more money upon enterprises 
which had hitherto turned out so untowardly. 
Private individuals were still less able to aiford 
the necessary outlay. Two ardent adventurers, 
Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain Mason, 
had each of them expended twenty thousand 
pounds in their endeavours to found a colony, 
and both <' thought it advisable to give over 
their designs, and put up with their loss." 

In 1614 the hopes of the Plymouth Company 
experienced a temporary revival. Captain John 
Smith, disgusted with the conduct of the London 
Company, in whose service in Virginia he had 
displayed such signal ability, undertook a trading 
adventure to that part of North America em- 
braced within the northern patent. While the 
sailors fished, himself, with eight others, in a 
small boat, ranged the coast from Penobscot 
Bay to Cape Cod. By trafficking with the Indians 
as he went along, he succeeded in obtaining, in 
exchange for attractive trifles of an inexpensive 
character, nearly eleven thousand beaver skins, 
one hundred martin skins, and as many of the 
otter. The remainder of the freight was made 
up of fish and train-oil. Returning to England 
in October, he disposed of his cargo at an im- 
mense profit. Nor was this the least valuable 
result of his enterprising spirit. With that fore- 
thought and sagacity which was so characteristic 
of the man, he had employed a portion of his 



26 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1615. 

time in making a map of the coast, naming the 
country <<New England." Other adventurers 
still persisting in calling it Canada, Smith pro- 
cured an interview with Prince Charles, to 
whom he presented the map he had drawn, and 
obtained from him a confirmation of the title. 

Reanimated by the success of Smith, the 
Plymouth Company sought him out on his re- 
turn to England, and, by means of magnificent 
promises, succeeded in engaging his services. In 
the mean time, the London or Virginia Company 
were not inactive. Seizing advantage of the 
profitable traffic thus opened with the Indians at 
the north, they immediately despatched four 
ships to New England. The Plymouth Com- 
pany had as yet made no provision for Smith, 
though they continued to feed his hopes with 
promises of founding a settlement at an early 
day, over which he was to exercise the chief 
control during his life. They had also agreed 
to furnish him with four ships by the 25th of 
December 1615 ; but, after many delays, he was 
obliged to be content with two only ; a ship of two 
hundred tons burden, and a bark of fifty. Mis- 
fortune attended him from the outset. He had 
scarcely sailed more than a hundred and twenty 
leagues before the masts of his ship went by the 
board ; and she became so leaky, that it was only 
by dint of keeping his men constantly at the 
pumps he was enabled to return to Plymouth. 



1616.] MISFORTUNES OF SMITH. 27 

Exchanging his ship of two hundred tons for 
one of sixty, he again set sail ; but, being over- 
taken by a pirate, he resolved to sink his small 
vessel, rather than not obtain honourable terms 
at their hands. Surprised that a bark of sixty 
tons, and mounting but four small cannon, should 
prepare to resist a vessel of one hundred and 
forty tons, having a crew of eighty expert sea- 
men, and armed with thirty-six pieces of artil- 
lery, the pirates called a parley, and demanded 
the name of the commander. When they learned 
it was Smith, he was suffered to pass free ; many 
of the lawless crew being composed of soldiers 
who had formerly seen service under him. Not- 
withstanding this fortunate escape, his troubles 
rapidly thickened. The master, mate, pilot, and 
a portion of the crew became mutinous, and on 
being chased by two French ships, refused to 
fight until Smith threatened to blow up the ship 
rather than yield before his powder was ex- 
pended. After a running fight they got clear 
of their pursuers, but found themselves, soon 
after, in the midst of the French fleet. Smith, 
finding all attempt at escape to be useless, went 
on board the admiral's ship to exhibit his com- 
mission. He was detained a prisoner. His 
men were seized and dispersed among the fleet ; 
while his vessel, after being rifled of its pro- 
visions, was placed in charge of a French crew. 
From some cause, now unknown, the French 



28 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1616. 

admiral finally concluded to restore the vessel 
to Smith, and to make good all the losses which 
he had sustained. The crew and provisions 
were accordingly returned; and, after an ani- 
mated debate, whether they should continue the 
voyage or return to England, a majority of the 
company entertaining similar views with the 
captain, it was determined to proceed. 

An act of the basest treachery alone prevented 
the prosecution of the enterprise. When on the 
eve of his departure. Smith, being sent for by 
the French admiral, went to visit him in the 
boat despatched by the latter for that purpose. 
While he was absent, the French fleet being 
dispersed in chase of a strange sail, the muti- 
neers seized the opportunity of escaping with 
the bark, and returned to England. 

After a cruise of two months the admiral re- 
turned to France, bearing Smith with him. The 
fleet becoming separated in a storm, the small 
prize ship on board of which Smith had been 
detained was among the first to approach the 
port of Rochelle. Finding his captors were 
bent upon justifying the illegality of their con- 
duct toward him, by charging him with having 
devastated the colony of New France, Smith 
daringly resolved to efi'ect his escape. In the 
midst of a heavy storm he seized a small boat 
belonging to the ship, and, after being tossed 
about in the tempest for the space of twelve 



1616.] SMITH REACHES ENGLAND. 29 

hours, succeeded in landing upon a small island, 
from whence he bribed some fishermen to carry 
him to Rochelle. His escape, which had threat- 
ened to terminate disastrously, was perhaps 
after all a most fortunate one. The vessel he 
had so desperately quitted was driven ashore 
during the storm, and dashed to pieces. The 
captain and half of the crew were drowned. 
The remainder of the mariners on reaching 
Rochelle were arrested at the instance of Smith, 
who had promptly laid his complaint before the 
judge of the Admiralty, and demanded an award 
of damages. As soon as the examination of 
the witnesses had been concluded, Smith, leav- 
ing the further prosecution of his claim in the 
hands of the English ambassador, departed for 
Plymouth, where the mutineers belonging to his 
own vessel had not only reported him dead, but, 
to shield themselves from censure, had vilified 
his character. These men he speedily caused 
to bo imprisoned, making their treachery ap- 
parent by the testimony of others belonging to 
the ship's company, who had refused to join in 
the conspiracy.- 

Nothing daunted by his recent misfortunes, 
Smith, after publishing his description and map 
of New England, determined to make its merits 
more fully known to the gentry and merchants 
of Cornwall and Devonshire, by travelling 
among them, and explaining to them personally 

3* 



80 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1616. 

the numerous advantages whicli the newly ex- 
plored country possessed for those who would 
properly undertake and judiciously foster a 
colony in that region. He told them he should 
consider it unjust to himself, to his king, his 
country, and his friends, to offer any induce- 
ments to a farther prosecution of Uiose voyages 
of adventure if he was not satisfied of their 
profitable character. He pictured, in colours 
exalted by his own enthusiasm, the delights of 
the new land, where nature and liberty afforded 
those luxuries for nothing which in England 
were only procurable at great cost. He dilated 
on the pleasure of planting vines, fruits, and 
herbs with their own hands ; and in beautifying 
their own grounds in such a manner as might 
best accord with the taste or fancy of the 
possessor. He dwelt upon the sense of free- 
dom the colonists would experience descending 
to the ocean beach, embarking in a boat of their 
own, and pursuing the sport of angling with 
a certainty of success, and an equal surety of 
profit. ^'Is it not a pretty sport," exclaimed 
the brave enthusiast, *'to pull up twopence, six- 
pence, and twelvepence as fast as you can haul 
and shift a line ? He is a very bad fisher who 
cannot take one, two, or three hundred cod a 
day, which dressed and dried, even if sold upon 
the coast at ten shillings a hundred, one-half the 
price they will bring in England, both the colo- 



1620.] NEW CHARTER GRANTED. 31 

nist and the merchant may be well contented 
with their respective gains. And what sport," 
he added, " yields a more pleasing content than 
angling with a hook, and crossing the sweet air, 
from isle to isle, over the silent streams of a 
calm sea?" 

These glowing representations were not with- 
out their effect. A new and distinct grant 
having been issued to the Virginia Company, 
the Plymouth Company applied for one of a 
similar character ; and, notwithstanding the op- 
position which was raised by those who desired 
to retain the freedom of the New England 
fisheries, they succeeded in obtaining, on the 
3d of November, 1620, a patent of singular com- 
prehensiveness and liberality. 

To forty persons, incorporated as " The Coun- 
cil established at Plymouth, in the county of 
Devon, for the planting, ruling, and ordering 
of New England in America," James I. grant- 
ed a territory, extending in breadth from the 
forty-fourth to the forty-eighth degree of north 
latitude, and in length from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, excepting only such territory as was 
at that time '< actually possessed by any other 
Christian prince or people." This extensive 
region, comprising upward of a million of square 
miles, was granted absolutely to the company, 
"with exclusive rights of jurisdiction, settlement, 
and traffic." 



32 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1600. 

But it was neither from the exertions of Smith, 
nor the grasping disposition of the Plymouth Com- 
pany, that New England was to receive its first 
band of permanent colonists. 



CHAPTER II. 



Struggles of Puritanism — Accession of James I. — Petition for 
redress of ecclesiastical grievances — Puritans ordered to con- 
form — Oppressive conduct toward them — Their separation 
and dispersal — 'Congregation of Mr. Robinson — Take refuge 
in Amsterdam — Remove to Leyden — Their steadfastness and 
probity — A colony in America contemplated — Negotiation 
with the Virginia Company — Petition to the king — -The 
patent accepted — A partnership formed with London mer- 
chants — Embarkation at Delft Haven — Junction with the 
Mayflower at Southampton — Accident to the Speedwell — • 
The Mayflower sails alone — Arrival in Cape Cod harbour — 
Mutual compact drawn up — Explorations by land and water 
— Sufferings of the exploring parties — A child born — Final 
expedition under Governor Carver — The camp surprised by 
Indians — A bloodless victory — The cruise continued — A 
dangerous storm — Disembarkation on Clark's Island — Ex- 
amination of Plymouth harbour — Landing of the Pilgrims. 

Puritanism, having its origin in the Reforma- 
tion, but dating its absolute birth from the 
reign of Edward YI., suffered greatly during the 
reign of the bigoted Mary, and was scarcely in 
less danger under the Protestant rule of Eliza- 
beth, who, from the force of early associations, 
had a lingering affection for many of the cere- 
monial observances adopted by the Catholic 



1604.] STRUGGLES OF THE PURITANS. 33 

church. Much, however, was hoped, by those 
of the Nonconformist faith, from the accession 
of James I. to the English throne. He was 
known to be attached to Protestantism, and while 
only king of Scotland, had declared himself 
favourable to the principles of Puritanism. The 
death of Elizabeth, in 1603, put his professions 
to the proof. In the course of his journey to 
London, he was met by a petition from seven 
hundred Puritans, praying ''for a redress of 
ecclesiastical grievances." Increase of dignity 
and power had, however, already effected a 
change in the Scottish monarch's opinions, yet, 
desirous rather of exhibiting his own contro- 
versial powers, than of yielding those conces- 
sions which the sagacious Bacon advocated, he 
appointed a conference to be held at Hampton 
Court. 

At this meeting, which took place on the 16th 
of January, 1604, the Puritans found the pe- 
dantic monarch firmly fixed in his determination 
to support the hierarchy of the English church, 
as necessary to the safety of his throne. They 
were admonished to conform, or he "would harry 
them out of the land." But the Puritans, strong 
in numbers, and earnest in the faith they had 
adopted, were not disposed to succumb so rea- 
dily- Their friends in pa,rliament boldly asserted 
the right of every man to enjoy liberty of con- 
science, and so pertinaciously demanded a recog- 



34 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1604. 

nition of religious freedom, that the timid, pe- 
dantic king began to entertain a vehement hatred 
toward those whose consciences he found it im- 
possible to control. 

The regular clergy, well knowing that the 
tenure of their own power depended upon the 
suppression of these dangerous sects, fostered 
the prejudices of the king through the medium 
of his inordinate vanity, and even, at length, went 
so far as to hardily maintain his supremacy over 
the parliament and the laws. 

In the mean time, it had been determined that, 
after a set period, all persons should conform to 
the established religion. Those who refused 
were to be dealt with. Growing in popularity 
under oppression, the Puritans, turning neither 
to the right hand nor to the left, pursued with 
undeviating steadiness the even tenor of their 
way. The laws, enforced by zealous bigotry, 
they submitted to without a murmur, rejoicing 
that by their sufferings they could evince their 
faith. Though numbers of their minister^ were 
harassed continually by the interference of 
lawless ofi&cials, and though many of those who 
persevered in preaching to the multitude in 
spite of ecclesiastical denunciation, were hunted 
from place to place, rudely insulted, maltreated, 
and imprisoned, very few were known to waver 
in the cause they had espoused ; but continued, 
through good and evil report, steadfastly to 



1608.] DISPERSION OF THE PURITANS. 35 

deny the authority of the prelates, and to main- 
tain their right ^' to walk in all the ways which 
God had made known, or should make known to 
them." 

Most of the congregations over which these 
ministers had presided, consisted of persons in 
the middle and lower walks of life. Persecuted 
with unrelenting severity by the Court of High 
Commission, the members were at length greatly 
dispersed, some into hiding, and some into exile, 
while those who yet clung together ventured 
only to meet for worship in remote or secret 
places. 

Among others, who were induced to seek that 
freedom of worship abroad which was denied 
them in their own land, was a portion of the 
members composing the church of Mr. John 
Robinson. Flying in detached parties to Am- 
sterdam, in Holland, during the year 1608, they 
joined, for a brief season, the church already 
established in that city by exiles of the same 
persuasion. 

Some differences arising between the earlier 
fugitives and the new-comers, Robinson removed 
with his followers to Leyden, where they led 
an industrious and pious life ; and by their sterling 
probity won the admiration of the Dutch magis- 
trates, who bore willing testimony that they 
never had any suit or accusation against them. 
By the arrival, at various times, of many more 



36 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1617. 

of their persecuted brethren, the congregation 
was greatly increased ; but its members, notwith- 
standing they were "diligent in their callings," 
found the means of obtaining a livelihood very 
difficult to procure. The free manners of the 
Hollanders were not suited to men of their austere 
and precise habits of life. They still clung affec- 
tionately to the language of their mother tongue; 
and at no time during their residence of twelve 
years in the land, could they be brought to feel 
that sense of freedom and home comfort, which 
would lead them to settle down permanently in 
the country. As their children grew up to man- 
hood, another cause for solicitude arose. Many 
of them entered into the Dutch service, and were 
gradually losing that warm feeling of nationality, 
by which, notwithstanding the persecution they 
had undergone, their fathers were yet animated. 

The various reports of adventurers concerning 
America finally induced the '^Pilgrims," during 
the year 1617, to entertain the design of found- 
ing a colony, where they could bring up their 
children in their own faith, and, at the same 
time, advance ''the gospel of the kingdom of 
Christ." 

They at first thought of going to Guiana, 
which the last voyage of the unfortunate Raleigh 
had brought prominently into notice ; but upon 
consultation it was found that a majority of the 
members inclined to prefer the " most northern 



1617.] NEGOTIATIONS. 37 

parts of Virginia," provided they might be 
allowed to live in a distinct body by themselves, 
and to follow their own mode of worship without 
restriction or interference. Robert Cushman 
and John Carver accordingly proceeded to Eng- 
land and conferred with the London Company. 
In the petition transmitted by the Pilgrims on 
this occasion, they argued their greater ability 
to found a permanent settlement, by reason of 
their being already "weaned from the delicate 
milk of their mother country," and inured to the 
difficulties of a strange land. "That they were 
knit together in a strict and sacred bond, by 
virtue of which they held themselves bound to 
take care of the good of each other, and of the 
whole. That it was not with them, as with other 
men, whom small things could discourage, or 
small discontents cause to wish themselves at 
home again." 

The Virginia Company eagerly closed with 
the proposal of the petitioners, and offered their 
envoys a patent at once ; but the latter declined 
to receive it until after they had again consulted 
their people. Encouraged by the prospect which 
now opened upon them, an application was soon 
after made to the king to confirm to the proposed 
colonists, under the great seal, liberty of religion. 
This James dechned ; but promised not to molest 
them. The congregation again conferred to- 
gether, and finally concluded, that the promise 



^8 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1(^19. 

was as binding as the seal, since, if there existed 
a desire to wrong them, means could easily be 
taken to do so, "though they had a seal as broad 
as the house floor." 

Resting therefore upon the doubtful staff of a 
king's word, they agreed to accept a patent at 
the hands of the Virginia Company, and in ac- 
cordance with this determination renewed their 
correspondence with that association during the 
year 1619. Some confusion, however, in the 
affairs of the company retarded the delivery of 
the patent until toward the close of the year ; 
and, at length, the grant being made in the name 
of John Wincob, a gentleman who was prevented 
by circumstances from emigrating with his 
friends, it never became of any service. 

One serious obstacle yet remained to be over- 
come. The congregation was poor, and, without 
receiving assistance from others, could not sus- 
tain the charge of their transportation across the 
Atlantic, much less could they provide the means 
of temporary support in the wilderness. In this 
dilemma they applied to Mr. Weston, and certain 
other merchants of London, with whom their 
agents succeeded in forming a partnership for 
seven years, rating the services of each emigrant 
at ten pounds. At the close of the period for 
which the copartnership was formed, the profits 
derived from the labours of the colonists, to- 
gether with all the <' houses and lands, gardens 



1619.] PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE. 39. 

and fields," acquired during that time, were to 
be divided among the stockholders, in proportion 
to the shares whiich each one held. This ar- 
rangement pressed most heavily upon the poor 
emigrant, since, for his seven years' service, he 
received no greater proportion of the property 
which had been acquired than the London mer- 
chant who had only adventured the sum of ten 
pounds sterling. 

Nothing daunted, however, by this additional 
burden thus laid upon them, the Puritans pre- 
pared for their departure. The Mayflower and 
the Speedwell, two ships which had been char- 
tered for the voyage, not being of sufficient 
capacity to contain the whole congregation, it 
was concluded to leave Robinson behind at 
Leyden, w^ith the feebler and more timid of his 
flock, while the younger members went first and 
prepared the way 

This prudent arrangement having been adopted, 
so soon as the adventurers were in readiness for 
their journey, accompanied by a large number 
of their friends from Amsterdam and Leyden, 
they proceeded to Delft Haven, where the Speed- 
well, a small ship of sixty tons, lay waiting for 
them. The night previous to this memorable 
journey was spent in tears and prayers, in the 
singing of psalms, and the interchange of those 
tender courtesies which the approaching separa- 
tion rendered so grateful. At Delft Haven, 



40 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1620. 

before the embarkation took place, the prayers 
of the pastor were again offered up ; and when 
the fair wind of the following day invited them 
to repair on board the ship, the members who 
remained behind with their beloved pastor fell 
upon their knees, ''and with eyes, and hands, 
and hearts lifted to heaven, fervently commended 
their adventuring brethren to the Lord, and his 
blessing. Thus, after mutual embraces, accom- 
panied by many tears, they bade a long, and 
many of them, a last farewell." 

Firing a parting volley, the little band of 
emigrants, under the guidance of Elder Brewster, 
crossed over to Southampton, and reaching that 
port with a prosperous wind on the 2d of July, 
found the Mayflower, an English ship of one 
hundred and eighty tons, had already arrived 
from London with their provisions and outfit. 
On the 5th of August, the two ships set sail for 
America ; but in a few days the leaky condition 
of the Speedwell compelled them to return to 
Dartmouth and refit. Sailing again on the 21st 
of August, the reluctance of the captain of the 
Speedwell to trust himself on a strange coast, 
joined to the timidity of his crew, induced them 
to represent the vessel as too frail for the voyage. 
Again putting back, they entered the harbour 
of Plymouth, where the Speedwell was abandoned. 
So many of her passengers as could be accommo- 
dated embarked on board the Mayflower; but 



1620.] ARRIVE OFF CAPE COD. 41 

Cushman and some twenty others they were re- 
luctantly constrained to leave behind. 

On the 6th of September, the Mayflower, hav- 
ing on board one hundred emigrants, a portion 
of whom were women and children, in bold de- 
fiance of the disasters which had hitherto at- 
tended the expedition, put out into the broad 
Atlantic, and commenced her lonely voyage. 
The emigrants had already selected, with great 
sagacity, the coast near the Hudson, as the most 
favourable point for founding a new settlement. 
But either from the ignorance of their pilot or 
from some other cause, they were carried much 
farther to the northward, and after a stormy 
voyage of two months, the first land they espied 
was the promontory of Cape Cod. On the 10th 
of November they came to an anchor in the fine 
harbour formed by the curvature of that famous 
cape. What little they could see of the coast, 
they discovered to be barren in the extreme. 
It was also beyond the limits of their patent; 
but the season being too far advanced to ad- 
venture farther, they determined to seek a more 
suitable place for settlement, even though its 
harbour should be found to possess fewer ad- 
vantages. 

But as some symptoms of disaffection had 
been noticed during the voyage, it was thought 
conducive to the future harmony of the colonists 
that they should enter into a mutual compact 



42 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1620. 

for the purposes of government. This being 
unanimously agreed upon, a contract was drawn 
up and signed, in which the democratic principle 
of a government based upon the will of a ma- 
jority of the people was first practically estab- 
lished. This remarkable instrument is in the 
following words : 

<'In the name of God, Amen. We whose 
names are under written, the loyal subjects of 
our dread Sovereign Lord, King James, by the 
grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and 
Ireland, king, defender of the faith, &c., having 
undertaken for the glory of God, and advance- 
ment of the Christian faith, and honour of our 
king and country, a voyage to plant the first 
colony on the northern parts of Virginia, do by 
these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the 
presence of God and one another, covenant and 
combine ourselves into a civil body politic, for 
our better ordering and preservation, and fur- 
therance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue 
hereof do enact, constitute, and frame such just 
and equal laws and ordinances, acts, constitu- 
tions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be 
thought most meet and convenient for. the 
general good of the colony, unto which we pro- 
mise all due subjection and obedience." 

This paper having been signed by forty-one 
persons, as representatives of their families and 
dependants — the aggregate number on board 



1620.] EXPLORATIONS. 43 

the Mayflower being one hundred and one — by 
general consent, John Carver, " a pious and 
well approved gentleman," was chosen governor 
for one year. 

On the same day, the 11th of November, 1G20, 
a company of men, well armed, were sent on 
shore to obtain wood and make discoveries. 
They found the country well covered with trees 
of various kinds ; but saw no Indians, nor any 
signs of habitations. Having loaded their small 
boat with juniper, a fuel to which, from its fra- 
grance, they were partial, they returned to the 
ship. 

As the winter season was rapidly approaching, 
the company, some of whom had been on board 
the Mayflower for more than a hundred days, 
were very anxious that a place for settlement 
should be selected as speedily as possible. After 
a delay of sixteen days, the shallop, which had 
been stowed between decks, and used as a place 
to sleep in during the voyage, was repaired by 
the carpenter, and pronounced seaworthy. In 
the mean time another exploring party, under 
the command of Captain Miles Standish, set out, 
on the 15th of November, in search of a settle- 
ment. They had not penetrated the forest more 
than a mile before they discovered some five or 
six Indians, whom they pursued for several miles. 
Upon the approach of darkness the exploring 
party halted; and, having arranged their senti- 



44 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1620. 

nels, encamped for the night. The following 
morning pursuit of the Indian fugitives was 
renewed Avith an equal want of success. The 
English, though greatlj impeded by the natural 
obstacles which presented themselves, and suf- 
fering severely from want of water, persevered 
in penetrating the forest, until at length they 
emerged into a beautiful valley, where, to their 
delight, they discovered several fine springs of 
fresh water, and the tracks of deer. After 
resting and refreshing themselves at this place, 
they moved southward until they reached the 
shore, where they made a fire upon the beach, 
as a signal of their safety to the anxious w^atchers 
on board the ship. When this thoughtful duty 
had been performed, they proceeded on their 
way, until they came to some small sand-hills 
covered with mats, and which, from their con- 
taining decaying weapons of war, they rightly 
conjectured to be Indian graves. Passing re- 
verently on, they came to an open field, from 
which the corn had evidently been gathered not 
long before. Presently they reached a spot 
bearing indications that a house had recently 
stood there. Frail, oblong structures, arching 
at the top, and covered with mats, formed the 
usual Indian houses of this period. Here they 
found a ship's kettle, and a quantity of corn, 
some shelled, and some remaining on the ear; 
part of this corn was openly exposed in a round, 



1620.] A CHILD BORN. 45 

narrow-topped basket, and part was burled in the 
ground. Of the grain thus fortunately dis- 
covered they carried away about ten bushels, 
the remainder they buried. Returning to the 
valley of springs, they remained there during 
the night, and the following day rejoined their 
ship. 

The repairs of the shallop being at length 
completed, an expedition was organized on a 
somewhat larger scale. Thirty-four persons em- 
barked on board the small vessel, a portion of 
whom were to cruise along the shore, while a 
stronger exploring party moved in a jDarallel 
direction inland. They now began to experience 
all the severities of a most inclement season. 
The snow fell, the wind blew, and the spray 
of the sea as it dashed upon them was converted 
into ice. It was a bitter, and to some a fatal 
time. Utterly overcome by the piercing cold, 
the sufferings experienced by a part of the com- 
pany finally resulted in death. Those who 
attempted to penetrate inland fared no better. 
After wandering about and enduring great 
fatigue for two days, they returned to the 
vessel. It was while a portion of the company 
was absent on this painful and unsuccessful ex- 
ploration, that a child was born on board the 
Mayflower, the first child of English parents 
born in New England. He was named Pere- 
grine White, and lived to see a feeble, half- 



46| HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1620. 

famished settlement become a powerful colony. 
He died at MarsMeld in 1704, at the age of 
eighty-three years and three months. 

On the 6th of December a third party, among 
whom were Carver, Bradford, Winslow, and 
Standish, embarked in the shallop, and cruised 
around the bay in search of a place for settle- 
ment. The next morning the company was 
divided as before, and while one detachment 
proceeded by land the other coasted. But they 
united toward evening, the shallop being moored 
to the shore, and the whole party encamping in 
the vicinity of each other on Great Meadow 
Creek. About midnight a surprise was attempt- 
ed by the savages ; but it was frustrated by the 
vigilance of the sentinels. The next morning, 
shortly after prayers, a succession of yells and 
a flight of arrows were the first indications 
which the exploring party received of a return 
of the Indians, whose presence had created so un- 
expected an alarm during the night. Although 
the company was at this time divided, a part 
of them having returned to the shallop, a few 
discharges of musketry were sufficient to dis- 
perse their enemies. Naming the place where 
they had been assaulted, " The First Encounter," 
they offered thanks to God for their bloodless 
victory, and returning on board the shallop, 
continued their cruise. A biting and pitiless 
storm arose soon after, by which their rudder 



1620.] LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS. 47 

was rendered wholly useless, and their mast 
broken into three pieces. By dint, however, 
of incessant labour at the oars, they were enabled 
to escape the dangers by which they were threat- 
ened; and about evening succeeded in shelter- 
ing themselves under the lee of a small island, 
subsequently known as Clark's Island, near the 
entrance of Plymouth Harbour. Disembarking 
in the midst of the storm, they succeeded in 
making a fire. Encamping upon the shore, they 
passed the night there in safety, though not 
without experiencing great discomfort. 

The next day, being the Sabbath, they de- 
voted wholly to its sacred purposes. The follow- 
ing morning, the lltli day of December, old 
style, but the 22d by the modern calendar, they 
sounded the harbour, and finding it convenient 
for shipping, a party disembarked on the main- 
land. The character of the country, partly 
woodland and partly- cleared of timber, with the 
abundance of pure water, both from springs and 
streamlets, seemed to indicate a proper place 
for a settlement. Returning to acquaint their 
friends with the welcome tidings, on the 15th 
of December the Mayflower was brought into 
the harbour, and anchored about a mile and a 
half from the shore. 

To the place thus selected for their future 
home the pilgrims gave the name of New 
Plymouth, in grateful remembrance of the kind- 



48 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1621. 

ness they had experienced at the last English 
port from which they had taken their departure. 
By a singular coincidence. Captain John Smith 
had previously given, upon his map, the name 
of Plymouth to the same harbour. 



CHAPTER III. 



A military company organized — Distribution of the settlers into 
families — Buildings commenced — Great sickness among the 
colonists — Fearful loss of life — Death of Carver — Departure 
of the Mayflower — Appearance and salutation of Samoset — 
Visit of Massasoit — Squanto the interpreter — The earliest 
offences against the laws of the colony — The mode of punish- 
ment — Tardy convalescence of the sick — Embassy to Mas- 
sasoit — Jealousy of Corbitant, a Narraganset sachem — His 
seizure of Squanto — His village surprised by Standish — 
Alarm of the neighbouring Indians — Treaty of amity and 
dependence — Arrival of colonists — Symbolical message of 
Canonicus — Bradford's bold retort — Its success — Plymouth 
fortified — Standish undertakes a voyage to Massachusetts Bay 
— Is dissuaded from it by Hobbamock — Wily device of 
Squanto — the expedition broken up — Deceit of Squanto dis- 
covered — His life demanded by Massasoit — Forbearance of 
Bradford — Arrival of Weston's colonists — Their reckless and 
dissipated character — Death of Squanto. 

Warned by the disasters which had attended 
the early settlement of Virginia, the Plymouth 
colonists immediately on landing prepared to 
defend themselves from any attack by the sa- 
vages. A military company was formed, of which 
Miles Standish, who had seen service in the Low 
Countries, was appointed captain. Some small 



1621.] DEATH OF CARVER. 49 

cannon were taken from the Mayflower, and 
planted advantageously on shore. 

To facilitate the division of land, the pilgrims, 
one hundred and one in number, were distributed 
into nineteen families. To each person was 
assigned a lot of ground for a house, eight feet 
three inches broad, by forty-nine feet six inches 
deep. Notwithstanding the difficulties presented 
by the frozen ground and the inclemency of the 
season, a busy scene soon presented itself. In 
the midst of great suffering and many priva- 
tions, the men, one-half of whom were severely 
ill, set to work to fell trees and to build their 
houses. Owing to the stormy character of the 
weather, it was only at intervals that this could 
be accomplished; but, at length, two rows of 
houses were erected on a rising ground, with a 
storehouse in the midst. In the mean time, death 
had been busy with many. Exposure to cold 
and wet produced diseases, which were fatally 
exaggerated by the want of proper food, and 
other causes scarcely less injurious. Although 
the winter had not been one of extraordinary 
severity, before spring one-half of their number 
had died, and so feeble were those remaining 
that there was scarcely strength enough left 
among the living to bury the dead. The 5th 
of April, 1621, was rendered memorable by the 
death of John Carver, their governor, and by 
the departure of the Mayflower to England, 
5 



50 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1621. 

after having remained on the coast nearly five 
months, affording shelter to the weaker colonists, 
and protection against any attack from the In- 
dians. William Bradford was chosen to succeed 
Carver; as governor and the soft airs of the 
spring slowly restored the shattered health of 
those patient and uncomplaining spirits that yet 
remained. 

It was regarded as an especial providence by 
the early historians of New England, that, a 
short time previous to the arrival of the pilgrims, 
a malignant disease had swept away or driven 
off all the Indian tribes that had inhabited the 
seaboard. Exploring parties found wigwams 
still standing, the stubble of recent corn-fields 
still erect, and large numbers of newly-made 
graves ; but they saw no Indians, except on rare 
occasions, and those only hovering at a distance. 

At length, on the 16th of March, 1621, an 
Indian, wearing no apparel with the exception 
of a strip of leather decorated with a deep fringe 
around his waist, entered boldly into the village ; 
and as the colonists sought to prevent him from 
approaching their rendezvous, saluted them with, 
<« Welcome, Englishmen !" From him they learned 
that the original name of the place was Patuxet, 
and that most of the recent occupants of the 
soil had been swept away by a malignant pesti- 
lence. Hailing his presence as a fortunate cir- 
cumstance, he was treated to the best they had, 



1621.] TREATY WITH THE INDIANS. 51 

and when night came on, finding him determined 
to remain, they reluctantly prepared a lodging 
for him in one of their houses ; but, to guard 
against treachery, kept up until the next morn- 
ing a vigilant watch. This savage, whose name 
was Samoset, and who had learned a little 
English from the fishermen frequenting the 
coast of Maine, after being gratified with various 
small presents, returned to Massasoit, the chief 
of the Wampanoags, a tribe whose villages were 
the nearest of any to Plymouth. Shortly after- 
ward, Samoset fulfilled his promise of opening a 
trade in furs with the feeble English colony. 
Within a week Massasoit himself came to visit 
the pilgrims ; and, by the aid of Squanto, an 
Indian who had been kidnapped by Hunt, but 
after learning the English tongue had succeeded 
in returning to his native country, a treaty of 
peace, offensive and defensive, was agreed to, 
which for more than fifty years was faithfully 
maintained by both. 

From this auspicious commencement sprang 
up a fair traffic with the Indians, from which, 
in after years, the English derived great ad- 
vantages. Desirous of improving the friendship 
exhibited toward the colonists by Massasoit, 
Captain Standish, accompanied by Isaac Alder- 
ton, visited the chief in his camp not long after. 
Their reception was kindly in the extreme ; but 
provisions in the Indian household were so 



52 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1621. 

scanty, that they could only bestow upon their 
guests a few ground-nuts and a small quantity 
of tobacco. Indeed, Massasoit was not ashamed, 
at this period of scarcity, to accept alms of the 
Plymouth people, who returned him his kettle 
filled with peas. 

It was about this same time that the first 
infringement of the regulations adopted by the 
Pilgrims for their governance took place. The 
offender was one John Billington, an incorrigible 
fellow, who had smuggled himself on board the 
Mayflower when she first set sail from London. 
Being convicted of " contempt of the captain's 
command, and opprobrious speeches," he was 
sentenced to have his neck and heels tied to- 
gether; but, in consideration of his humbling 
himself before the people, he was mercifully 
forgiven. Kindness was, however, thrown away 
upon such a man, who continued to lounge about 
the settlement, a confirmed and disreputable 
vagabond. He had a son equally worthless, 
and the two together were a constant source of 
anxiety to the more staid and religious portion 
of the colonists. A duel with sword and dagger, 
fought by two servants of Mr. Hopkins, and in 
which both combatants were wounded, was the 
next offence that occurred, and was as speedily 
dealt with. The offenders, in this instance, were 
ordered to undergo the same kind of punishment 
which had previously been awarded to Billing- 



1621.] CONVALESCENCE OF THE SICK. 53 

ton. This punishment was to be continued for 
the space of twenty-four hours, during w^hich 
they were to be denied both food and water. 
It was rigidly carried into eifect ; but the suffer- 
ings which the prisoners experienced were so 
acute, that they were liberated from their painful 
position after the lapse of an hour. 

With the buds and the blossoms, the upspring- 
ing grass, and the leafing of the trees, the 
hearts of the Pilgrims began to be reconciled to 
their new home in a strange land. They had 
borne, without undue murmuring, the loss of one- 
half their scanty number, and they now watched 
the convalescence of others with a hope which 
the discomforts of their condition, the wintry 
weather, and the dreary and frozen solitudes 
around them had wellnigh overclouded. Their 
high-toned piety had indeed rendered them 
capable of bearing up under a degree of afflic- 
tion beneath which men with minds less ac- 
curately balanced would have succumbed. Yet 
their gratitude was not the less fervent when 
the birds began to sing again, and the icy 
brooks to throw off their crystal fetters, and the 
earth to put on its fresh and tender vernal rai- 
ment. Straightened as they sooi^ became for 
food, it was a source of deep joy to watch the 
gradually increasing strength of those dear 
friends whom sickness had so long prostrated, 
and to see fulness and colour once again return 
5* 



54 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1621. 

to beloved lips, and the rosy hue of health to 
cheeks so lately pale and wan. 

In July an embassy to Massasoit was resolved 
upon ; the conscientious colonists desiring to dis- 
cover, and reimburse, certain unknown Indians 
for the corn which had been found and appro- 
priated by the party that first landed. Upon 
this embassy Stephen Hopkins and Edward 
Winslow were despatched. Guided by Squanto, 
the Indian who had been kidnapped by Hunt, 
and w^ho was to act as interpreter, they set out 
overland for the village of Pokanoket, or Narra- 
ganset Bay, where Massasoit then was. They 
bore with them, as presents to the chief, their 
ally, a laced coat of red cotton, and a copper 
chain. These were most graciously received by 
the sagamore, who, when arrayed in his new and 
strange apparel, was regarded by his people 
with increased wonder and reverence. It was a 
harmless device to win the affections of their 
first friend, and it doubtless aided in doing so, 
since Massasoit remained true to his early com- 
pact to the day of his death. 

Other chiefs, however, were more jealous of 
the new-comers. Corbitant, a sachem acknow- 
ledging allegiance to Massasoit, was by no means 
disposed to be on good terms with his new allies. 
On one occasion he seized Squanto, the interpre- 
ter, and held him a close prisoner, saying, "If 
Squanto was dead, the English would lose their 



1621.] TREATY OF AMITY. 55 

tongue." The death of Squanto being reported 
to the Plymouth people by Hobbamock, another 
friendly Indian, Captain Standish, with about a 
dozen men, proceeded hastily and in secret to 
Corbitant's village, which they surprised about 
midnight, while all the inhabitants were asleep. 
In the midst of the alarm which followed, some 
of the women clung to Hobbamock, crying out 
"Friend! Friend!" while the timid boys, dread- 
ing the vengeance of the intruders, sought to 
evade it by exclaiming piteously, "I am a girl! 
I am a girl!" Fortunately for Corbitant, he was 
absent at the time; but Standish was gratified 
at finding the report of the murder of Squanto 
unfounded. The following morning that useful 
Indian was released. 

But though, as regarded one object which the 
colonists had in view, the expedition proved a 
failure, the display of resolution thus evinced had 
a salutary efi'ect upon the surrounding Indians. 
On the 18th of September, nine petty chieftains 
entered Plymouth, and, entreating the friendship 
of the Pilgrims, acknowledged themselves sub- 
jects of King James. About the same time a 
boat with ten men explored Massachusetts Bay, 
After opening a traffic with the few Indians that 
were discovered there, the party returned in 
Bafety to Plymouth. 

With restored health, and a moderately plenti* 



66 HISTORY OP MASSACHUSETTS. [1621. 

ful supply of provisions, the first summer passed 
not uncheerfully away. 

Upon the approach of winter, thirty-five new 
colonists arrived in the Fortune, among whom 
were Mr. Cushman, and a portion of those emi- 
grants who had been left behind with the Speed- 
well. They were most joyfully welcomed, al- 
though, by this addition, the limited stores of 
the settlers were found to be so far short of the 
requisite provision for the winter, that the colo- 
nists were constrained to content themselves 
with one-half the usual daily allowance. Cush- 
man himself returned to England as the agent 
of the colony, taking with him a mixed cargo of 
furs, sassafras, and other articles, to the value 
of about twenty-four hundred dollars. 

Soon after the Fortune had left the coast, an 
event occurred which at first seemed ominous 
of approaching danger ; but it was boldly met, 
and the threatening aspect of afiairs terminated 
peacefully. The western shore of Narraganset 
Bay was inhabited by the Narraganset Indians, 
a powerful tribe, of whose numbers and prowess 
even Massasoit stood in awe. Canonicus, the 
chief sachem of this nation, at first appeared 
disposed to regard his English neighbours with 
friendly feelings; but, after wavering for some 
time, he finally sent a messenger to Plymouth 
with a bundle of arrows, wrapped in the skin of a 
rattlesnake, as a symbol of his hostility. Nothing 



1621.] ALARM OF THE INDIANS. 57 

daunted, Governor Bradford filled the skin with 
powder and ball, and sent it back to Canonicus 
with a message, expressing his regret at not 
having any ships at his command, as he would 
in that case have sailed at once to respond to 
his challenge; but that if the Narragansets 
would return to assail the colony, his people 
were ready to meet them. So much boldness 
and confidence alarmed the hostile sachem ; and 
when the snake skin, filled with powder and 
shot, was produced, his fears were so greatly 
aroused that he would neither touch the symbo- 
lical device, nor permit it to remain within the 
limits of his dominions. The messenger who 
brought it refused to touch it again ; but another 
Indian, somewhat bolder, took it up and carried 
it to the next village. Its presence creating an 
equal terror to them, it was carried in a similar 
manner to another Indian settlement, from 
whence it was as speedily despatched to a third, 
and a fourth ; and in this way it was passed from 
settlement to settlement, until at length it was 
returned to Plymouth without any one having 
dared to open it during the course of its singular 
and erratic travels. 

Notwithstanding the bold and defiant manner 
with which it had been deemed politic to reply 
to Canonicus, the Plymouth people, having a 
prudent regard for their safety, commenced at 
once to fortify themselves by surrounding their 



58 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1621. 

village with a palisade of strong timbers. A 
system of general military training was also 
adopted, and rules established for the guidance 
of the colonists in all cases of sudden alarm. 

Another voyage to Massachusetts was soon 
after resolved upon, although Hobbamock sought 
to prevent it by expressing a fear that the Mas- 
sachusetts Indians were in alliance with the 
Narragansets. He also sought to cast a suspi- 
cion upon the fidelity of Squanto, a charge 
which the events occurring soon after appeared 
at first to justify. The voyage was, however, 
determined upon ; but Standish, with ten men, 
and accompanied by Squanto and Hobbamock 
had scarcely departed before a member of 
Squanto's family spread an alarm that a large 
body of Indians were on their way to attack the 
settlement. To make his story more credible, 
the cunning savage had smeared his face with 
blood, which he alleged was occasioned by a 
wound received in defence of the colonists. The 
cannon was at once directed to be fired as a 
signal for the instant return of the voyagers. 
Owing to a calm that prevailed at the time, they 
were yet within hearing, and immediately put 
back to the settlement, where they found the 
colonists already armed and prepared to receive 
the enemy. But Hobbamock no sooner heard 
the source of the alarm, and that the report of 
the Indian implicated Massasoit in the hostile 



1621.] ARRIVAL OF COLONISTS. 59 

movement, than he pronounced the whole story 
false. Uncertain what to believe, and yet in- 
clined to give credence to the assertion of Hob- 
bamock, the governor despatched the wife of the 
latter secretly to Pokanoket to ascertain the 
disposition of Massasoit and his Indians toward 
them. Utterly unsuspicious of the rumours which 
had been reported so greatly to his prejudice, 
the noble chieftain was justly indignant at the 
author of them, and demanded that the slanderer 
should be delivered to his messengers, who were 
authorized to put him to death. The value of 
Squanto as an interpreter, for it was to his 
shrewdness and cunning that the alarm was 
owing, saved him from any greater punishment 
than a reprimand. 

While, however, the fate of that wily Indian 
still hung suspended in the balance, the approach 
of a strange sail determined the governor to 
put off his final reply to the messengers from 
Massasoit, until he had ascertained whether the 
vessel which was then entering the harbour was 
a friend or an enemy. Piqued at this delay, the 
savage envoys departed in great anger, and 
soon afterward Squanto was restored to liberty. 

The suspicious vessel proved to be a friendly 
shallop, owned by Thomas Weston, a London 
merchant, engaged in the fisheries off the coast 
of Maine. This ship brought seven additional 
colonists to Plymouth. As the emigrants who 



60 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1622. 



had arrived in November, relying wholly upon 
the provisions accumulated by the earlier settlers, 
had brought with them no stores whatever, and 
as the new-comers were equally destitute, Mr. 
Winslow, taking the boat belonging to the colony, 
returned with the shallop to Maine to purchase 
supplies from the vessels which frequented that 
coast. From these worthy and humane mariners 
he obtained, as a free gift, all the provisions 
they could spare ; and this opportune relief, by 
judicious economy, afforded the colonists a mode- 
rate subsistence until the crops they had culti- 
vated were ready for the garner. 

It was from these fishermen that the Ply- 
mouth people first received tidings of the fearful 
massacre perpetrated by the Indians, under 
Opechancanough, upon the settlers in Virginia. 
Well knowing that the most perfect of all secu- 
rity is based upon a wise precaution, they 
profited so far by this disaster as to erect a fort 
upon the hill which commanded the town, using 
it subsequently for the double purposes of wor- 
ship and defence. 

During the month of July, two more vessels, 
having on board sixty colonists, entered the 
harbour of Plymouth. These vessels, the Charity 
and the Swan, also belonged to Weston, who, 
having become dissatisfied with his gains from 
his Plymouth venture, had determined upon 
establishing a settlement of his own, and had 



1622.] WESTON'S COLONISTS. 61 

selected Massachusetts Bay as the most favoura- 
ble point for a new plantation. These men 
of Weston's, chiefly indented servants, were 
received courteously by the Plymouth people; 
but being a wild, reckless, improvident set, they 
fell into disfavom- not only with the Pilgrims, 
but also with the Indians, in whose vicinity at 
Narraganset, now called Weymouth, they soon 
after attempted to settle themselves. Grodless, 
idle, and utterly beyond control, they lived care- 
lessly for some time upon such supplies as they 
had brought with them. When these were ex- 
hausted, and famine stared them in the face, 
they sought out the neighbouring Indians, and 
either begged, or stole, or took forcible pos- 
session of such food as they could get. The 
natural result of this conduct was to bring down 
upon them the hatred of the savages, who were 
only prevented by their fears of the Plymouth 
people from inflicting a summary punishment 
upon the off'enders. 

Although this plantation at Weymouth was 
established under a distinct grant to Weston, 
and as such was beyond the jurisdiction of the 
Plymouth authorities, the latter could not see 
their own countrymen reduced to such miserable 
extremities without endeavouring to do some- 
thing for their relief. A joint expedition was 
accordingly arranged, by which certain of tho 
Weymouth people were to embark on board the 

6 



02 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1622. 

Swan, and accompanied by the* shallop belong- 
ing to the Puritans, endeavour to open a traffic 
with the Indians of the coast for such supplies 
as even the more prudent of the Pilgrims began 
at this time to require. At first they found 
the savages reluctant to have any thing to do 
with them. On reaching Manamoick, the first 
night, the savages treated them hospitably 
enough, so far as to bring them a sufiiciency of 
food for immediate use ; but they were evidently 
jealous of the presence of their guests, and 
heartily desired their departure. Finally, how- 
ever, the interpreter, Squanto, succeeded in 
allaying their fears, and in eifecting a traffic, by 
which the voyagers obtained some eight hogs- 
heads of corn and beans. 

This was the last exploit of the ambitious and 
cunning Squanto; while on shore at Manamoick 
he was suddenly taken ill of a fever. Finding 
his disease beyond the power of medicine, he 
fondly bequeathed a number of trifles as memen- 
tos to different English friends ; and then turning 
to Governor Bradford, who was one of the party, 
he said, with his dying breath, "Pray for me 
that I may go to the Englishman's God in 
heaven." 



1622.] TRAFFIC WITH THE INDIANS. 63 



CHAPTER IV. 

The coasting voyage abandoned — Traffic with the Massa- 
chusetts Indians — Accident to the shallop — Prospects of an 
Indian conspiracy — Illness of Massasoit — Winslow's journey 
to him — False account of Massasoit's death — Reception of 
Winslovv — Recovery of Massasoit — His gratitude — The plot 
revealed — Winslow returns to Plymouth — Action of the Ge- 
neral Court — Standish departs for Weymouth — Arrives in 
the harbour — The Swan deserted — Wretched condition of 
Weston's people — The intentions of Standish suspected by 
the Indians — Their daring conduct — Speech of Pecksuot to 
Hobbamock — Of Wituwamat — The conflict — Death of the 
. chief conspirators — Fortunate result — Grief of Mr. Robinson. 

Owing to the death of Squanto, the object of 
the voyage was partially frustrated. Instead 
of doubling Cape Cod, and opening a commu- 
nication with the Indians to the south of that 
peninsula, they were compelled to return and en- 
deavour to renew a traffic with the Massachusetts 
Indians. In this, however, owing to the easy 
recklessness of the Weymouth people in their 
mode of bartering, they were not successful; 
but at Nauset, now called Eastham, they ob- 
tained some eight or ten hogsheads of corn and 
beans. The shallop, being driven ashore in a 
storm, was found to have suffered more injury 
than could be repaired with the scanty means at 
their command; and as they had previously 
parted company with the Swan, there was no 



64 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1623. 

help for it but to store the corn, and placing 
both that and the shallop in charge of the In- 
dians, to return to Plymouth on foot, a distance 
of fifty miles. This Bradford and his companions 
safely accomplished. The Swan arriving soon 
after, an equal division was made of the corn on 
board, and then Weston's people returned in her 
to their neglected plantation. 

Already there were signs and portents of what 
the fate of that plantation would be, if the In- 
dians should be suffered to combine for its de- 
struction. A dread of the Plymouth people alone 
prevented a full co-operation in the conspiracy 
which was already organized ; and the chieftains 
found it necessary to attempt a more extensive 
combination, and to include both of the English 
settlements in their intended massacre. 

But their design was providentially frustrated. 
Before the plan was fully arranged, tidings came 
to Plymouth that a small Dutch trading-vessel 
had been driven ashore in Narraganset Bay, 
near to the residence of Massasoit, and that 
the old chieftain was himself lying seriously ill. 
Winslow was immediately despatched to confer 
with the Dutch, and to express to Massasoit the 
sympathy of the Puritans. Accompanied by a 
London gentleman desirous of seeing the country, 
and by Hobbamock, w^ho had taken the place 
of Squanto as interpreter, he set out about the 
middle of March, 1623, and lodged the first 



1623.] GRIEF OF HOBBAMOCK. 65 

night at Namasket, the present Middleborough, 
and where, at the report of his piece, certain 
Indians came to him with the intelligence that 
Massasoit was dead, and that the Dutch, having 
been successful in getting their shallop afloat, 
had sailed from the bay. 

The supposed decease of Massasoit rendering 
it probable that Corbitant would succeed to the 
chieftainship, Winslow sought an interview with 
the latter, at his village of Mattapoiset. The 
distance was only three miles. As they jour- 
neyed along, Hobbamock could not conceal his 
grief for the loss of his ancient master. «<0 
my chief, my dear, my loving chief!" he ex- 
claimed; "with many have I been acquainted, 
but none ever equalled thee. Master Win- 
slow, his like you willnever see again. He was 
not like other Indians, bloody and implacable; 
but kind, easily appeased when angry, and easily 
reconciled with off'enders. He was reasonable 
in his requirements; was not ashamed to ask 
advice of those in low stations. He was a wise 
ruler. He governed better with mild than 
others chiefs did with severe measures ; return- 
ing love for love. I fear you have not now a 
faithful friend left among the Indians." In this 
pathetic and moving strain Hobbamock con- 
tinued to express his anguish until they arrived 
at the village where Corbitant resided. 

The latter being absent, and his wife expressing 

6* 



66 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1623. 

her ignorance of the death of Massasoit, Winslow, 
with some degree of reviving hope, instantly de- 
spatched a messenger to Pokanoket, to ascertain 
the truth or falsehood of the rumour. He re- 
turned the same evening, and reported that the 
chief was still living, though seemingly at the 
point of dissolution. Winslow at once started 
with his companions; and, on arriving at the 
village, pressed through the crowd with which 
the house of the chieftain was thronged, and 
interrupted the medicine-men in the midst of 
their incantations. The terrible noise, and the 
impure air of a room densely packed with In- 
dians, by no means cleanly in their persons, were 
alone sufficient to endanger the life of a sick 
man. Conscious of the necessity of perfect 
stillness, Winslow silenced the medicine-men, 
ordered the others to cease their clamorous out- 
cries, and bade those who were gathered about 
the rude couch of the dying man to desist from 
their manipulations. By this time the sight of 
the old chieftain had entirely failed him, but he 
was still sensible. When informed that his 
English friends had arrived, he inquired their 
names, and, on being told of the presence of 
Winslow, he expressed a desire to speak with 
him. Winslow immediately approached and 
took his hand. "Art thou Winslow?" inquired 
the ancient chieftain. "Yes," was the reply. 
"0 Winslow!" said Massasoit, sorrowfully, in 



1623.] ILLNESS OF MASSASOIT. 67 

his own tongue, "I shall never see thee more." 
But Winslow soon inspired him with hope. He 
told him that the Plymouth people, earnestly 
desiring his restoration to health, had sent some 
things which might be of service. Massasoit at 
once decided to place himself under the care of 
his English friends ; and Winslow, taking upon 
the point of a knife ''a confection of many com- 
fortable conserves," inserted it between the teeth 
of his patient. The preparation was swallowed 
with great difficulty ; but when the mouth and 
tongue of the sick man were thoroughly cleansed, 
he partook a second time of the confection more 
easily. After this, a manifest improvement took 
place in his condition. His sight returned; and 
while a messenger hastened to Plymouth for 
medicines and some chickens for a light broth, 
Winslow sustained the rallying strength of his 
patient by a supply of corn into which straw- 
berry leaves and sassafras root had been infused. 
Witli returning strength came returning appe- 
tite, and by indulging to excess, the sick chief 
suffered a relapse ; but he was again in a fair way 
of recovering by the time the messenger from 
Plymouth returned. 

This noble and well-timed action greatly en- 
hanced the regard of the Wampanoag Indians 
for their English friends, whose generous quali- 
ties Massasoit was never weary of extolling. 
Other tribes, however, were still brooding over 



68 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1623. 

their sanguinary schemes. Of this Massasoit 
was well aware, and grateful for the kindness 
of which he had been the recipient, he revealed 
to Winslow the project for the destruction of the 
English settlement, and the combination which 
various tribes along the coast had entered into 
for that purpose. As the blow was first designed 
to fall upon Weston's worthless plantation at 
"VYeymouth, and as the Massachusetts Indians 
were the chief promoters of the conspiracy, Mas- 
sasoit advised that Wituwamat and others of 
that tribe should be at once put to death by the 
English, as in that case the conspiracy would 
be immediately dissolved. Filled with these 
important revelations, Winslow returned in all 
haste to Plymouth, which he reached on the 
23d of March. The court being at that time in 
session, Governor Bradford left it to the "body 
of the company" to decide what was best to be 
done at this crisis. It was finally concluded 
to intrust the conduct of the affair to the joint 
discretion of himself, his assistant, and the va- 
liant Captain Standish. A determination was 
promptly formed. The men of Weston's colony 
were to be secretly informed of their danger, 
and of the expedition that would soon start 
under pretence of trade to their relief. This ex- 
pedition was to consist of eight men only, under 
the command of Standish, a small man, but of 
the most indomitable courage. These instructions 



1623.] CONDITION OF WESTON'S PEOPLE. 69 

were, to proceed to \Yejmoutli and carefully note 
the temper of the Indians, but to avoid collision 
with them until such time as Wituwamat was 
present, whom, as the chief conspirator, they 
were empowered to kill, and whose head they 
were directed to bring with them to Plymouth. 

The movements of this little war-party were 
quickened by the arrival of one Pratt from Wes- 
ton's plantation. He reported that his com- 
panions were reduced to the most abject condi- 
tion of poverty, and were in daily danger of 
being cut oft" by the Indians, who took from them 
all they had, and replied to every remonstrance 
by sanguinary threats. Deeply impressed with 
the danger impending over the Weymouth settle- 
ment, Standish immediately set sail. On arriv- 
ing in the harbour of WIseagusset, he immedi- 
ately repaired on board the Swan, and sought an 
interview with the colonists ; but he found the 
ship to be utterly deserted. The report of a 
musket, however, brought a few of the men to 
the shore. Reckless of their lives, some had 
scattered in search of ground-nuts and other 
edibles, while the greater number yet remained, 
in equal squalidness, poverty, and imaginary 
security, at the plantation. The representations 
of Standish were the first reliable tidings they 
had received of the danger in which they stood. 
The colonists at a distance were immediately 
sent for, and directed to take up their residence 



70 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1G23. 

in the village, where Standish made his abode 
and coolly ^vaited until a fit opportunity occurred 
for carrying out his orders. The presence of a 
small band of resolute men from Plymouth did 
not louiT remain unknown to the Indians. Sus- 
pecting their designs had been penetrated, they 
despatched a messenger to AYcymouth to learn 
all he could of the plans and movements of 
Standish. He returned, and reported that the 
captain masked an angry heart beneath a friendly 
demeanour. Notwithstanding this intelligence, 
the chief conspirators determined to have the 
matter out. Pecksuot, Wituwamat, and their 
followers, daringly continued to frequent the 
miserable village, and boldly courted the danger 
to which they well knew they were exposed. 
"Toll Standish," said Pecksuot to Ilobbamock, 
" we know he has come to kill us ; but let him be- 
gin when he dare." To prove their contempt for 
Standish and his party, a number of Indians would 
enter the rude fort, and whet their knives before 
the English, accompanying the action with taunts 
and contemptuous gestures. As if to try the 
prudence of the fiery captain to the utmost, 
Pecksuot snecringly told him, that though he 
was reported a great captain, he was but a little 
man. " It is I," said he, "although no chieftain, 
that have great strength and courage." Nor 
was the conduct of Wituwamat less insulting. 
Boasting of his knife, on tlie handle of which 



1623.] DEATH OF THE CONSPIRATORS. 71 

a woman's face was carved, he said, "I have 
another at home, with a man's face upon it, that 
has killed both French and English : by and by 
the two must marry." Then, in allusion to the 
perfect silence with which such a weapon could 
be used, he hinted at his sanguinary purpose by 
saying, << By and by this knife shall see, and by 
and by it shall eat — but not speak." 

Standish bore with these malignant speeches 
and bravadoes until the following day, when, 
meeting with Pecksuot, Wituwamat, and two 
others, in a private house, the numbers on each 
side being equal, the stout-hearted captain gave 
orders to have the door fastened, and then sud- 
denly confronting Pecksuot, seized upon the 
Indian's knife, as it hung about his neck, and 
drove it into his body. The other savages were 
attacked at the same moment, and for a while 
the struggle was both desperate and doubtful. 
Fierce as the conflict was, it was conducted in 
perfect silence. Fighting furiously to the last, 
the Indians continued to wrestle with their reso- 
lute adversaries, and to clutch at the ensanguined 
weapons, until three of them, pierced with nu- 
merous wounds, fell upon the floor. The fourth, 
a younger brother of Wituwamat, and as villanous 
as himself, was not slain with his companions, but 
sufi'ered death by hanging shortly after. 

All this time Ilobbamock, neither aiding one 
party nor the other, stood calmly by, and silently 



72 HISTORY OP MASSACHUSETTS. [1623. 

watched the fearful progress of the conflict. 
When it had terminated in favour of the English, 
he approached Standish and said, "Yesterday 
Pecksuot boasted of his strength and stature; 
but I see you are big enough to lay him on the 
ground." Sending word to the remainder of 
his command to slay all the Indians they could 
meet with, Standish left the village under a 
guard of Weston's people, and set out the next 
day, with a portion of his own company and 
one or two of the Weymouth men, to beat 
up the haunts of the outlying savages. After 
journeying for some time, they suddenly en- 
countered a small band of warriors who had set 
out from a neighbouring village for the purpose 
of revenging upon the English the death of their 
friends. A brief skirmish ensued, which termi- 
nated in favour of Standish. The Indians fled, 
and the captain, having created the impression 
he desired, returned to Plymouth. 

The testimony of an Indian boy showed how 
great had been the peril which this decisive con- 
duct had averted. He stated that the conspira- 
tors were only waiting for the completion of 
some canoes, which were being constructed by 
three of Weston's people for the chief with whom 
they had taken refuge. The design then was, 
by the aid of these canoes, to have captured the 
vessel in the harbour, and to have attempted 
a simultaneous massacre of the English, both 



1623.] AVEYMOUTH ABANDONED. 73 

there and at Plymouth. Nor was this plan with- 
out its chances of success. Already the re- 
vengeful successor of Powhattan in Virginia 
had almost annihilated that unfortunate colony ; 
and a similar attempt, from the smaller number 
of colonists, would have been far easier of exe- 
cution against the New England plantations. 
Happily, however, by this exercise of a timely 
severity, the conspiracy was effectually crushed, 
although it was thought advisable that the Wey- 
mouth people should abandon their ill-governed 
plantation, in order to avoid the risk of falling 
victims to those retaliatory measures to which 
they would necessarily be exposed. Such of 
them as desired to sail for the coast of Maine, 
and thence to England, were permitted to em- 
bark on board the vessel in the harbour, Standish 
generously furnishing them from his own limited 
store with a small supply of corn. Those who 
concluded to join the Puritan settlement at 
Plymouth he took with him in his shallop. In 
obedience to instructions, the head of Witu- 
wamat was carried to the governor, who directed 
it to be stuck upon a pole, and set up in an ex- 
posed place within the fort as an admonition to 
the Indians by whom the village was frequented. 
Some of the nicer moralists among the Puri- 
tans were disposed to doubt the exact justice of 
this famous exploit by Standish; and when the 
news reached Holland, their tender-hearted pas- 

7 



74 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1623. 

tor, Mr. Robinson, could not conceal his sorrow 
that blood should have been spilled. In writing 
to his New England friends concerning the affair, 
he exclaimed, <' Oh, how happy a thing it would 
have been, if you had converted some before you 
killed any." But the act, severe as it appeared, 
was without doubt a justifiable one, and that it 
was productive of the best effects cannot be ques- 
tioned. The suddenness of the English assault, 
though not terminating in the loss of many lives, 
inspired the Indians with such a wholesome 
terror that those who were most guilty, fearful 
the English would follow up their plan of ven- 
geance, withdrew into the woods and swamps, 
where they endured hunger and privations which 
shortened the lives of some of the principal con- 
spirators. 

A small boat, loaded with presents, was at 
length despatched by them to the governor as a 
peace-offering; but it was wrecked while on its 
voyage to Plymouth, and three of its crew were 
drowned. This disaster deeply impressed itself 
upon the superstitious minds of the poor savages, 
who, in the ecstasy of their terror, remembered 
the prediction of their chief men, and openly 
proclaimed that the God of the English was 
angry with them, and that their destruction was 
at hand. 



1623.] GRATITUDE OF THE COLONISTS. 75 



CHAPTER Y. 

Gratitude of the colonists — Captain Robert Gorges — 'His char- 
ter for part of Massachusetts Bay — 'Appointed liieutcnant- 
Governor for New England — West commissioned as admiral 
— Weston's plantation re-opened — 111 success of Gorges — He 
quits the country — 'West sails for Virginia — John Pierce — 
His charter — Purchased by the Plymouth Company — Arrival 
of third supply — Day of thanksgiving ordered — Winslow 
sails for England — Returns — John Lyford — Religious dis- 
putes — Wollaston's plantation — 'Morton of Merry Mount — 
His capture and imprisonment — Lyford and Conant at Nan- 
tucket — Settlement at Naumkeag — Origin of the Massa- 
chusetts Company — Patent obtained — Arrival of Endicott 
and others at Naumkeag — Second supply for Massachusetts 
— Organization of the church at Salem — Expulsion of the 
Brownes — The charter transferred to Massachusetts — Em- 
barkation of Winthrop — Sufferings of the colonists — Arabella 
Johnson — Isaac Johnson — His death and burial. 

Long subsequent to the settlement of Ply- 
mouth, it was remembered with feelings of pious 
gratitude, that after the loss of those dear friends 
who first fell victims to exposure, the deprivation 
of former comforts, and the unaccustomed nature 
of the climate, there was not a single death 
among the remaining colonists for more than 
three years. 

The prompt manner also with which the In- 
dian conspiracy had been suppressed tended 
greatly to insure the future safety of the feeble 
but resolute settlers. From this period, although 



76 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1623. 

they increased but slowly in numbers, they were 
freed, for the space of fifty years, from the san- 
guinary excesses of Indian hostilities. 

Notwithstanding, however, the acknowledged 
feebleness of the Plymouth colony, its prospects 
of eventual success were sufficiently flattering to 
induce Captain Robert Gorges, son to the enter- 
prising Sir Ferdinando, to obtain, in 1623, from 
the English Council for New England, a charter 
for territory on the north-west side of Massa- 
chusetts Bay, extending ten miles along the 
coast for breadth, and, for length, running back 
thirty miles inland. In order to maintain their 
right to the fisheries, and to prevent adventurers 
from settling upon their lands without a patent, 
the council appointed Gorges Lieutenant-Gover- 
nor of New England, and commissioned Mr. 
Francis West as Yice-Admiral. In conjunction 
with a council, to be composed of AYest and 
the governor of the Plymouth colony. Gorges, 
clothed with full powers '' to restrain interlopers 
and regulate all afi*airs," set sail for the wilder- 
ness w^hich was to be the scat of his government, 
bringing over w^ith him a number of labourers to 
commence a settlement upon the lands embraced 
within his patent. He was also accompanied by 
Mr. Morrell, a clergyman of the Church of Eng- 
land, whom the Archbishop of Canterbury had 
sent out to America as commissary of ecclesi- 
astical afi'airs. 



1623.] ILL SUCCESS OF PIERCE. 77 

The loosely-defined territory for which he had 
a patent not proving to his liking, Gorges took 
possession of the plantation deserted by Weston's 
people ; but his official authority being lightly 
regarded by those who had preceded him, and 
his individual projects not proving successful, 
he returned to England within the year. The 
career of Admiral West in New England was 
equally brief. He had been instructed by the 
council to permit no fishermen or trading ad- 
venturers to pursue their avocations upon the 
coast without taking out a license ; but his orders 
being disregarded, and being too weak to enforce 
them, he finally sailed for Virginia. 

In the mean while, the grant which the Ply- 
mouth colonists had obtained from the Virginia 
Company proving valueless, another patent had 
been obtained in the name of John Pierce as 
trustee. The latter, however, with certain- 
private views of aggrandizement, sought and 
obtained a new charter from the English pro- 
prietaries, under which he would have endea- 
voured to hold the Puritan settlers as his tenants, 
and compelled them to "sue in his courts as 
chief lord," if, in two attempts to reach America 
with additional colonists, he had not been pro- 
videntially driven back by storms. Other 
reverses of fortune following soon after, he was 
induced to sell his charter to the Pilgrims and 

7* 



78 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1624. 

their associates for the sum of five hundred 
pounds. 

During the month of August, the third supply 
of emigrants, to the number of sixty, came over 
in the Ann and Little Jane, bringing with them 
supplies for the colonists. 

The want of food was so general at this time 
among the people of Plymouth, that the best 
they could ofier the new-comers was a dish of 
lobsters and a cup of fair spring-water. The 
arrival of these vessels was, therefore, hailed as 
a deliverance from impending famine, and a day 
of thanksgiving was specially set apart in conse- 
quence. 

When the Ann was laden with furs and clap- 
boards, Winslow returned in her to England, to 
negotiate a loan from capitalists in that country. 
He succeeded, with great difficulty, in effecting 
the object of his mission, and having freighted a 
vessel with his supplies and a few cattle, he 
again set sail for the colony, where he arrived 
in March, 1624. Among those who came with 
him at this time, was John Lyford, an Episcopa- 
lian clergyman, who, professing himself a convert 
to the Puritan doctrines, was admitted to church 
membership. Lyford, however, still advocated 
the administration of the sacrament, and from 
this source sprang up religious disputes which 
ended in the expulsion of Lyford from Plymouth, 
together with Oldham and Conant, his most pro- 



1G25.] wollaston's plantatiox. 79 

niinent supporters. They removed to Nantasket 
soon after, where they joined a small settlement, 
composed principally of fishermen. Many of 
the London partners being unfavourable to a 
complete separation from the Church of England, 
they greatly censured the conduct of the 
Plymouth authorities towards Lyford, the more 
especially as he had been sent out on their re- 
commendation. Another source of annoyance 
was the partnership itself. The system of com- 
mon property being found to have a depressing 
influence upon the industry of the colonists, it 
was determined, in 1624, to grant an acre of 
land to each family in fee, and by this simple 
and judicious arrangement not only was famine 
averted for the future, but the product of corn 
soon became greater than was .required by the 
settlers for their own consumption. 

At this period the town of Plymouth consisted 
of but thirty-four dwelling-houses and one hun- 
dred and eighty-four inhabitants ; nor was it 
until after the lapse of ten years from its settle- 
ment that the colony began to exhibit a steadily 
accelerating increase. 

In 1625 Captain Wollaston, with a company 
of thirty persons, founded a plantation on Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, not far from where Weston and 
Gorges had previously made their unsuccessful 
attempt at settlement. 

The chief command over this new plantation, 



80 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1026. 

which was called Mount Wollaston, was speedily 
usurped by one Morton, a reckless, royistering 
attorney, who changed the name to Merry Mount, 
set all the indented servants free, and, erecting 
a ma3^pole, lived a jolly life until all the provi- 
sions and the stock, intended for traffic with the 
Indians, were exhausted. This dashing career 
was not of long continuance. Undertaking to 
sell guns and ammunition to the Indians, and to 
teach them the use of them, the neighbouring 
planters became greatly alarmed, and petitioned 
the Plymouth people to remove so dangerous an 
adventurer. Their petition was not disregarded. 
Captain Standish was despatched with an armed 
force to their assistance. Morton was arrested 
and taken to Plymouth, where he was held in 
close confinement until a favourable opportunity 
occurred of sending him prisoner to England. 

"When Lyford sought refuge among the fisher- 
men at Nantasket, or Cape Ann, he again en- 
tered upon the functions of the ministry by ap- 
pointment from the English company by whom 
the station had been established. Through the 
influence of his brother, Roger Conant also ob- 
tained the office of overseer or agent to the ad- 
venturers. The enterprise, proving unprofitable, 
was abandoned after a year's trial. Lyford sailed 
for Virginia, but Conant, with three companions, 
and a flock of cattle, removed in the autumn of 
1626 to Naumkeak, now called Salem, with the 



1628.] APPOINTMENT OF ENDICOTT. 81 

design of opening a new and better place of 
refuge to such of the Puritan persuasion as 
might be disposed to emigrate. In this project 
Conant was supported by Mr. White, a clergy- 
man of Dorchester in England, and one of the 
chief promoters of the lately abandoned settle- 
ment at Nantasket. Animated by the desire to 
found a colony to be composed of the choicest 
members from among those of the Puritan per- 
suasion, Mr. White exerted himself with great 
zeal to effect his object. He was speedily suc- 
cessful. 

On the 19th of March, 1628, the council for 
New England granted to six gentlemen residing 
in the west of England, a tract of land on Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, three miles south of Charles 
River, and three miles north of the River 
Merrimack, and extending across the continent 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Shortly 
after this grant had been obtained, three of the 
original patentees parted with their rights to 
John Winthrop, Sir Richard Saltonstall, and 
others to whom the enterprise had recommended 
itself. 

This wealthy and influential company were no 
sooner in possession of the grant, than John En- 
dicott, one of the original patentees, a gentle- 
man admirably qualified for the rugged duties 
he was deputed to undertake, was intrusted with 
the chief control of the affairs of the colony, and 



82 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1629. 

sent over with planters and indented servants to 
commence a settlement. The emigrants, about 
one hundred in number, were welcomed by 
Conant to Naumkeag. 

From this point Endicott sent three brothers, 
by the name of Sprague, to explore the head of 
Massachusetts Bay. Upon the peninsula between 
the Mystick and Charles rivers, they found a 
settlement of Indians, and one thatched house in 
the possession of Thomas Walford, a smith. A 
nonconforming clergyman by the name of Black- 
stone, resided on the opposite peninsula of Shaw- 
mut. Maverick, an Indian trader, occupied a 
small fort on the island, which is now known as 
East Boston ; while David Thompson had seated 
himself upon an island to the south, to which 
he had given his name. A few other settlers were 
also scattered at intervals along the coast of the 
bay. 

From the influential character of the gentle- 
men who had embarked in it, the project of colo- 
nizing Massachusetts Bay speedily became popu- 
lar. Numerous adventurers, some of whom were 
from Boston in Lincolnshire, joined the company. 
And, on the 4th of March, 1629, after a great 
exertion of influence, and a considerable ex- 
penditure in money, the patent from the Coun- 
cil for New England, with authority to exercise 
gubernatorial power, was confirmed by Charles L 

The corporation thus established, under the 



1629.] AKRIVAL OF COLONISTS. 83 

Style of the Governor and Company of Massa- 
chusetts Bay, in New England, was organized 
shortly after, by the election of Craddock and 
Goffe, two London merchants, as governor and 
deputy-governor. The entire control of the 
proposed colony was assumed by the English 
stockholders: Endicott, the governor of the 
colony, with his council of twelve, being con- 
trolled by instructions from the former. 

On the 29th of June, the second supply of 
emigrants, two hundred in number, having with 
them three accepted ministers, reached Naum- 
keag, or Salem, in five ships, where they found 
those who had previously come over with Go- 
vernor Endicott. Three hundred planters were 
now congregated at Salem, but one-third of them 
speedily removed to Charlestown, where a settle- 
ment had already been commenced. On the 20th 
of July, Mr. Higginson was elected teacher, and 
Mr. Skelton pastor of the company ; and on the 
6th of August, when the elders and deacons were 
ordained, the church at Salem was for the first 
time duly organized. 

Being Nonconformists while in England, the 
colonists, now free to assert their religious li- 
berty, separated wholly from the Church by 
abolishing the litany and other ceremonies per- 
taining to the English ritual. Some few, how- 
ever, were unprepared to assent to so great a 
change ; and prominent among these were John 



84 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1629. 

and Samuel Browne, the one a lawyer of some 
eminence, the other a merchant, both gentlemen 
of property, and both members of the Colonial 
Council. Upholding the use of the litany, they 
withdrew from the newly-established congrega- 
tion, and being joined by others of similar reli- 
gious views, formed themselves into a separate 
society. In consequence of this difference, a 
warm controversy arose, which Endicott finally 
put a stop to by seizing the Brownes, and send- 
ing them back prisoners to England, under a 
charge of sedition. 

In the mean time the company in England 
had formed a project for removing the seat of 
the corporation from England to Massachusetts 
Bay, by transferring the charter to those who 
should inhabit the colony. 

This important proposition was no sooner 
adopted than John Winthrop, and a number of 
other gentlemen of wealth and influence, formed 
the determination to emigrate. A new agree- 
ment was accordingly made with such of the 
stockholders as remained behind, whereby they 
were to retain an interest in the company for 
seven years, proportioned to the amount of one- 
third of their original subscription. New officers 
were also chosen. On the 20th of October, John 
Winthrop was elected governor, and John Hum- 
phrey deputy-governor ; but the latter remaining 
in England, Thomas Dudley was chosen in his 



1630.] ARRIVAL OF WINTHROP. 85 

stead. Preparations were now made for emi- 
grating upon a scale commensurate with the 
means of the adventurers. Before the close of 
the year 1630, eleven ships, with over fifteen 
hundred passengers, reached New England. The 
Arbella, bearing Winthrop and several of his 
assistants, arrived at Salem on the 12th of June. 
The poorer emigrants, on disembarking, refreshed 
themselves with the wild strawberry which ripened 
in profusion along the neighbouring slopes ; but 
the tidings which Winthrop and his companions 
met were both gloomy and disheartening. Of 
the three hundred colonists at Salem and Charles- 
town, eighty had already died, and many others 
were enfeebled by sickness. Of corn, there re- 
mained not more than a supply sufficient for two 
weeks. 

The necessity of selecting places for settle- 
ment, and for making provision, as early as pos- 
sible, against the inclemency of the winter 
season, induced Winthrop, accompanied by a 
number of gentlemen, to leave Salem on the 
17th of June, for the purpose of examining the 
peninsula of Charlestown. Here they at first 
concluded to settle themselves, but finally crossed 
to the opposite side of Charles River, and laid 
the foundation of Boston. Accustomed from 
childhood to the comforts of life, those who were 
wealthy among the new-comers were even less 
able to support the hardships inseparable from 

8 



86 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1630. 

a life in the wilderness, than the servants they 
had already manumitted. Quenching their thirst 
with brackish water, residing in poor huts, and 
exposed to the influences of an unaccustomed 
climate, so many of them soon sickened and 
died, that before the year closed they had lost 
two hundred of their original number. One 
hundred others, afii'ighted and disheartened, 
abandoned the colony and returned to- England. 
Among those whose untimely death was greatly 
deplored by the early chroniclers, was the lady 
Arabella Johnson, a daughter of the Earl of 
Lincoln, who *' came from a paradise of plenty 
and pleasure into a wildnerness of wants ; and 
although celebrated for her many virtues, yet 
was not able to encounter the adversity she was 
surrounded with ; and in a month after her arrival, 
she ended her days at Salem, where she first 
landed." Stricken with grief for her loss, her 
husband did not long survive her. Pious, 
wealthy, and charitable, he too had entwined 
himself around the hearts of his sorrowing com- 
panions, and in the midst of his great bereave- 
ment, rejoiced " that he had lived to see a church 
of Christ gathered in America." Removed early 
from communion with his friends, their affection 
still clung to him, even in death, and around the 
grave of Isaac Johnson they directed that their 
graves should lovingly cluster. 



1630.] SETTLEMENTS IN NEW ENGLAND. 87 



CHAPTER VI. 

Settlements in New England — Discouraging reports — Win- 
throp — His piety and beneficence — ■Political changes — Arrival 
of Cotton and Stone^ — Dudley chosen governor — Power of the 
commons asserted — First house of delegates — Emigration — 
Charges preferred in England against the Massachusetts 
colony — The demand for a return of the charter evaded — 
Morton's letters — -Preparations for defence — Civil dissensions 
— Roger Williams — Asserts freedom of conscience — Is ba- 
nished — Settles Rhode Island — Opposition to Winthrop — • 
His accusers rebuked — Arrival of Vane and Hugh Peters — 
Fort Saybrook built — Emigration to Connecticut — Popu- 
larity of Vane — Chosen governor of Massachusetts — Growing 
discontent — Anne Hutchinson — Her doctrines — Supported 
by Vane — Warm religious disputes — Convention of churches 
— Banishment of Wheelwright and Mrs. Hutchinson — Her 
tragic death — War with the Pequods — Advance into their 
country — Attack on Mistick Fort — Pursuit of Sassacus — 
Extermination of the Pequod tribe. 

The emigrants who came over to New Eng- 
land, either as stockholders or under the auspices 
of the Massachusetts Company, did not all settle 
in one place. Some remained at Salem, and 
•while the party under Winthrop were building 
their habitations at Boston and Charlestown, 
others established themselves at Roxbury, Dor- 
chester, Watertown, Medford, and Lynn. But 
the unfavourable reports made in England by 
those who had been impelled by fear to abandon 
the infant colony, caused all further emigration 



88 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1633. 

to languish, and for two years the number of 
arrivals did not equal the loss of the colonists by 
death or desertion. 

During this season of trial, the mild and pa- 
tient Winthrop sustained by his cheerfulness, 
and assisted by his means, all those who most 
needed his counsel or his aid. Leaning to an 
aristocratic form of government, he yet yielded 
gracefully to the expressed will of the people ; 
and when, after some slight previous changes, 
it was resolved by the general court, w^hich met 
in May, 1632, to elect the governor and assist- 
ants annually by popular voice, he acknowledged 
the right of the people to institute their own 
form of government by accepting office at their 
hands. 

As the prospects of the colonists brightened, 
many of their friends in England came over and 
joined them. During the year 1633, large 
numbers of emigrants arrived, and among them 
John Haynes, "a gentleman of great estate," 
with Cotton, Hooker, and Stone, three ministers 
of great learning and piety. Mr. Cotton, by 
the advice of the principal authorities, was or- 
dained minister of the church at Boston, while 
Hooker and Stone settled at Newtown, the pre- 
sent Cambridge. 

Up to this period Mr. Winthrop had been 
continued in the office of governor ; but at the 
annual election of 1635, Dudley, formerly de- 



1633.] POLITICAL CHANGES. 89 

puty-governor, was chosen in his stead, notwith- 
standing the influence of Cotton, who, siding 
with Winthrop, declared in his sermon before 
the General Court that a magistrate ought not 
to be deprived of his office without just cause, 
" no more than a private man should be turned 
out of his freehold without trial." The popular 
will, however, being bent upon making extensive 
political changes, chose Dudley to the magistracy. 
Denying the opinion of Winthrop that the '' com- 
mons" had not yet among them men capable of 
undertaking the duties of legislation, the general 
court, composed of all the freemen of the colony, 
asserted its supremacy by claiming, as a right, 
"the power to admit freemen, the choosing of 
all principal officers, the making of laws, grant- 
ing lands, raising money, and the revision, by 
way of appeal, of all civil and criminal proce- 
dures." In the general court, held quarterly, 
but subsequently changed to semi-annually, the 
people were to be represented by delegates, 
elected annually by the towns, and clothed with 
the full voice and authority of all the freemen. 

These important changes being adopted, three 
delegates from each of the eight plantations were 
speedily chosen, and taking their seats with the 
magistrates in the Meeting House at Boston, or- 
ganized the first house of representatives in the 
colony. 

All this summer, emigrants sailed from Eng- 

8* 



90 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1633. 

land in such great numbers, that during the 
season as many as fourteen vessels a month 
arrived at the various New England plantations. 
In the mean time the Privy Council at London, 
alarmed by the misrepresentations of Morton of 
Merry Mount, Sir Christopher Gardiner, also 
an expelled colonist, and others, had appointed 
a commission, with Laud at its head, clothed 
with full power over the American plantations, 
even to the revocation of their charters. The 
commission had demanded of Craddock a return 
of the Massachusetts patent ; but the requisition 
was evaded by the authorities in New England, 
on the plea of inability to act until the next 
meeting of the general court. 

The uneasiness of the colonists was greatly in- 
creased about this time by a letter from Morton 
to his ''very good gossip," one Jefferies, a resi- 
dent of New England, stating that the king in 
council had declared the Massachusetts patent 
void; and, resuming his authority over the ter- 
ritory, had commissioned a governor-general for 
New England. A fortification upon Castle Is- 
land, in Boston harbour, was immediately de- 
termined upon ; and at the meeting of the general 
council in September, a sum of money was appro- 
priated to defray the expense of the work. The 
fort in the town was ordered to be armed, and 
authority given to commence the construction of 
forts at Charlestown and Dorchester. 



1633.] DISPUTE WITH THE MAGISTRATES. 91 

But oven at this period of anxiety and sus- 
pense, the colonists were not free from internal 
disputes, arising from a difference of opinion in 
regard to the respective powers of the magis- 
trates and the deputies. 

Charmed by the reports they had received of 
the fertile low lands bordering the Connecticut 
River, the people at Cambridge requested per- 
mission to settle there ; but the magistrates de- 
clined to authorize their removal, although the 
deputies, who formed a majority of the whole 
court, were willing to consent to the desires of 
the petitioners. A division being thus created, 
the power of the magistrates to enforce their 
negative was hotly questioned. Angry conten- 
tions arising, the court was adjourned for a brief 
season. Upon the reassembling of the members, 
Mr. Cotton came to the rescue of the magistrates, 
and in his sermon defended their negative. His 
arguments were respected; and the petitioners 
agreeing to accept other lands in the vicinity, in 
place of those upon which they were settled, the 
question at issue was for the time being amicably 
evaded. 

Nor was it at Boston only that disputes with 
the magistracy took place about this time. At 
Salem the young and enthusiastic Roger Williams 
had proclaimed, among various other opinions ob- 
noxious to the authorities, " that to punish a man 
for any matters of conscience was persecution." 



92 HISTORY OF MASSACnUSETTS. [1633. 

Alarmed at the vigour with which he maintained 
his doctrines, the Plymouth magistrates demanded 
a copy of a manuscript treatise he had written, 
denying the validity of a royal patent to lands 
in America; but, moved by the letter he wrote 
in explanation of the work, they forbore from 
dealing with him with severity on that score, on 
condition that he should take an oath of alle- 
giance to the king. He had scarcely freed him- 
self from this difficulty, before he far more seri- 
ously compromised himself with the civil govern- 
ment, by stimulating Endicott to cut the cross 
out of the king's colours, as a relic of Anti- 
christ. Various attempts which were made on 
subsequent occasions failing to change his opi- 
nions, he was at length banished from the juris- 
diction. His church at Salem, which had hitherto 
clung to him with a half-wavering steadfastness, 
now became alarmed and turned from him. Still 
maintaining, among other doctrines less tenable, 
the noble tenet of liberty of conscience in reli- 
gious matters, he gathered around him a few 
faithful adherents, and held religious service in 
his own house, which he had permission to occupy 
until the opening of spring. 

In the hour of trial the veteran Bradford 
honoured his sincerity while he regretted his 
doctrines ; and Morton, the historian, spoke 
warmly of his many admirable qualities. Many 
others also began to believe in the '< godliness" 



163G.] RHODE ISLAND SETTLED. 93 

of the fearless young minister; and the magis- 
trates, apprehensive lest he should draw off a por- 
tion of the people and found a new settlement 
outside the bounds to which their authority ex- 
tended, finally concluded to avert the threatened 
danger by sending him under arrest to England. 
Having timely information of their purpose, Wil- 
liams departed from Salem in mid-winter. After 
wandering alone for many weeks through the 
leafless, snow-covered forests, partaking of such 
scanty fare as the straggling settler or poorer 
Indian could aiford him, he finally passed over 
to Rhode Island, in the summer of 1636, and, 
with five companions, laid the foundation of a 
new colony. Here, as governor and adviser, he 
resided for forty years. Blameless in his life, 
and austerely just in his acts, bearing no malice 
toward those by whom he had been exiled, but 
desirous only of promoting the common welfare, 
he devoted himself to this humane purpose with 
the same ardour as he proclaimed and defended 
the peculiar tenets he had espoused. 

Endicott, who was commander at Salem, for 
his mutilation of the colours, and his defence of 
a letter written by Williams to the magistrates, 
was sentenced by the court to be '' sadly admo- 
nished," and disabled for a year from holding 
any office under the commonwealth. 

Nor was the mildly aristocratic Winthrop with- 
out his enemies. He was scarcely removed from 



94 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1635. 

the office of chief magistrate before a statement 
of his receipts and disbursements of the public 
moneys was demanded at his hands. He cheer- 
fully complied with the ungracious requisition, 
and triumphantly vindicated the unsullied purity 
of his conduct. 

Early in the spring of 1635 the arrival of 
vessels freighted with emigrants and stores com- 
menced. The number of new-comers continued 
to increase as the summer advanced, and before 
the close of the year three thousand additional 
settlers found a welcome and a home upon the 
shores of New England. Among these, young 
Mr. Winthrop returned from a visit to England, 
accompanied by his father-in-law, Hugh Peters, 
pastor to a congregation of Puritan exiles in 
Holland, and Henry A^ane, a gentleman in the 
first flush of manhood, but less noticeable as the 
son of a privy counsellor than for his exalted 
piety and for a fervent devotion to the cause of 
liberty which eventually brought his head to the 
block. 

These three gentlemen having been appointed 
commissioners for Connecticut, by the noble pro- 
prietors of that province, caused Fort Saybrook 
to be built at the mouth of Connecticut River, 
which they supplied with a competent garrison 
and munitions of war. By this measure the 
Dutch were effectually precluded from forming 
any settlements beyond the limits of the trading 



163G.] EMIGRATION TO CONNECTICUT. 05 

house they had already established ; and were soon 
to be restricted to a few acres surrounding it. 

In the mean time, the congregation of Mr. 
Hooker, though quieted for a season, still yearned 
to migrate to the banks of the Connecticut. The 
representations of Oldham, formerly expelled 
with Roger Conant and Lyford to Nantucket, 
and now become an Indian trader, being corro- 
borated by the reports of others, they again 
sought permission to remove. Gaining, with 
some difficulty, leave from the general court, 
they sold their lands at Cambridge, in the spring 
of 1636, to a congregation newly arrived from 
England, under the spiritual charge of Mr. 
Shepard, and headed by their ministers,' 
Hooker and Stone, departed on foot into the 
wilderness, bearing with them their wives and 
children, and driving their cattle before them. 

This difficult journey through the rugged and 
dangerous forest, and over mountain and morass, 
with no guide but the compass and the slender 
trail left by the small company from Dorchester, 
who, under Ludlow, formerly deputy-governor, 
had migrated the previous fall, being accom- 
plished in about two weeks, the weary travellers 
sat themselves down on the west bank of the 
Connecticut River, fifty miles from its mouth, 
where they laid the foundation of a town, to which 
they gave the name of Hartford. 
^Vane, the youthful commissioner for Con- 



96 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1636. 

necticut, speedily became a favourite with the 
people of Massachusetts. Attracted by his deep 
piety, the grave suavity of his manners, and his 
devotion to the Puritan cause, in 1636, the year 
following his arrival, they chose him governor, 
although he was then not much more than twenty- 
four years of age. With a spice of that natural 
vanity excusable in one so young, he gave an 
added dignity to his office by adopting a certain 
degree of magisterial state. When he moved to 
court or church, four sergeants, armed with hal- 
berds, preceded him. For a few months his 
administration prospered ; but toward the close 
of the year the people grew discontented, and 
Vane, receiving letters of recall from England, 
requested permission to resign his authority. 
This course produced some degree of agitation 
in the popular mind; and though the general 
court reluctantly agreed to submit to the appa- 
rent necessity for his departure, Mr. Cotton, his 
close friend, and the congregation at Boston, 
prevailed upon him to remain among them until 
the close of his term of office. Rehgious differ- 
ences were the cause, in a great degree, of the 
partial disfavour into which Vane had fallen. 
Countenanced by Vane, Cotton, and many others, 
Mrs. Hutchinson, the wife of a gentleman in 
good repute, for some time a resident of the 
colony and a representative of Boston in the 
general court, established private religious 



1637.] RELIGIOUS DISPUTES. 97 

meetings for those of her own sex, at which the 
sermons preached by the ministers the Sabbath 
preceding were taken up, examined, and criti- 
cised. For a while her lectures were popular ; 
but when she began to separate the ministers 
and their followers throughout the colony into 
two distinct but very unequal parties, charging 
the larger moiety with being under a covenant 
of works, while the lesser only was under a 
covenant of grace, contentions arose, and dis- 
putatious correspondences were carried on, which 
at one time seriously threatened to break up the 
settlement. Being in her turn charged by Win- 
throp, and those who thought with him, of ad- 
vocating two capital errors in doctrine, one of 
which was, " that the Holy Spirit dwells in per- 
sonal union with a justified person," and the 
other, that " sanctification was not necessary for 
justification," her cause, embraced with ardour 
by Vane, was also partially espoused by Cotton 
and her brother-in-law. Wheelwright, a minister 
of some eminence. Protected by these popular 
men, she continued her lectures until the follow- 
ing year, when Winthrop was chosen governor,' 
and Vane returned to England. Many persons 
having in the mean time adopted her opinions, 
the general court finally concluded to call a 
council of the churches. The synod was held at 
Cambridge on the 30th of August, 1637 ; and, 
after a discussion which lasted three weeks, con- 



98 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1637. 

demned as erroneous some eighty obnoxious 
opinions which had been set afloat in the colony. 

The power of the general court being thus 
strengthened by the voice of the clergy, they 
proceeded to expel, soon after, two of their own 
members for justifying seditious practices ; and 
demanded of Wheelwright a retraction of his 
course and an acknowledgment of his offence. 
This being refused, he was condemned as a dis- 
turber of the peace, disfranchised, and ordered 
to quit the colony within fourteen days. 

Mrs. Hutchinson was next summoned before 
the court to answer the charge of ''traducing 
the ministers and their ministry in the country." 
After a protracted trial, she also was condemned 
to banishment ; and Hutchinson, making sale of 
his estate, removed with his wife and children 
to Rhode Island, where he purchased a tract of 
land from the Indians. The subsequent fate of 
this gifted and enthusiastic woman was deeply 
tragical. After living through the winter in a 
cave upon the island, hostilities broke out be- 
tween the Dutch of New Netherlands and the 
natives, and, in the confusion which ensued, she 
fell a sacrifice to the fury of the savages. 

Previous to this, however, and during the heat 
of those religious disputes to which Mrs. Anne 
Hutchinson finally became a victim, an expedi- 
tion was undertaken by Massachusetts against 
the Pequod tribe of Indians, in retribution for 



1637.] WAR WITH THE PEQUODS. 99 

several murders they had latterly committed ; 
one of the victims being Oldham, the Indian 
trader. During the autumn of 1636, eighty men, 
commanded by Endicott, marched against them, 
but returned to Boston on the approach of winter 
without accomplishing any thing. The Pequods 
cpntinuing their hostilities by cutting off settlers, 
and increasing so much in boldness as to besiege 
for several weeks the garrison at Fort Saybrook, 
an alliance was formed by the English colonies 
with the Narragansets, with whom the Pequods 
had previously sought to unite. Early in 1637 
the combined forces of Massachusetts, Plymouth, 
and Connecticut, supported by a strong body of 
Indian auxiliaries, prepared to take the field. 
A detachment of forty men, commanded by Cap- 
tain Patrick, an officer who had served in the 
Low Countries under the Prince of Orange, was 
thrown forward by Massachusetts in advance of 
the main body to form a junction with the Con- 
necticut levies under Captain Mason; but the 
latter, having under him sixty Connecticut mi- 
litia, and being further reinforced by twenty 
Massachusetts men, commanded by Captain 
Underbill, a resolute enthusiast, and three hun- 
dred Indian auxiliaries, without waiting for 
further support, penetrated the Pequod country, 
and marched at once to invest the two stockade 
forts within which the enemy had ensconced 
themselves. On learning that Sassacus, the 



100 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1637. 

chief sachem, was in command of the principal 
fort, one-third of the Indians, struck with terror, 
refused to proceed and returned to their homes. 
The distance being yet eight miles to the fort 
where Sassacus was, and the men being wearied 
with carrying the weight of their arms and pro- 
visions, it was finally concluded to commence 
the assault upon the nearer fort, which was at 
Mistick. 

Under the guidance of a Pequod Indian, 
named AYequash, they reached the vicinity of 
the stockade undiscovered, about midnight, and 
distinctly heard the Indians within feasting and 
making great rejoicing, under the impression 
that the English had taken a different route. 
About daybreak on the 26th of May, they ap- 
proached the fort while its garrison was buried 
in profound sleep; and, piloted by Wequash, 
reached the gate. The barking of a dog within 
the enclosure was the first intimation the Pe- 
quods received of the danger with which they 
were menaced. "With a piercing yell, the alarmed 
savages sprang to their arms ; but were speedily 
thrown into confusion by the English, who fired 
upon them through the openings between the 
palisades. Mason was first to enter the fort 
with his men ; and the remainder joining him 
soon after, through various openings, a terrific 
conflict commenced, during which the surprised 
garrison fought with the energy of despair. But 



1637.] FORT MISTICK DESTROYED. 101 

the superior arms and discipline of the English 
were soon found to be more than a match for 
the frailer weapons of their savage antagonists ; 
and Mason, setting fire to the wigwams, of which 
there were some sixty or seventy within the en- 
closure, the terrified Indians endeavoured to 
escape by scaling the palisades. In this exposed 
and defenceless situation many were shot down ; 
while those who succeeded in escaping for the 
moment, met their death soon after by the hands 
of the Indian auxiliaries who encircled the out- 
side of the stockade. Scarcely one escaped. 
The work of slaughter being ended, the English, 
with the loss of three killed, embarked their 
numerous wounded on board some vessels which 
had opportunely ascended the river, the main 
body returning overland to Fort Saybrook, 
where the vessels also arrived the following 
day. 

The result of this fearful onslaught effiectually 
broke the power of the Pequods. Sassacus, 
with the feeble remains of his tribe, abandoned 
his fort, and, burning his wigwams, made an 
attempt to escape from the country over which 
he had so long ruled; but the Massachusetts 
forces under Stoughton arriving at Saybrook 
early in June, the pursuit was renewed with 
increased activity. The Pequod fugitives being 
at length surrounded in a swamp, where they 
had sought refuge, — and preferring to die fight- 



102 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1637. 

ing rather than submit to the terms which 
were offered, — fell there, one by one, until at 
the close of the battle, with very few exceptions, 
the whole tribe was exterminated. 



CHAPTER yil. 

New Haven founded — Increase of emigration — Harvard College 
established — Population of the province — Emigration check- 
ed — Feeling of discouragement in New England — The Baha- 
ma Islands — Colonists from New England — Fired upon by the 
Spaniards — Return of the adventurers — Commissioners sent 
to England — Fate of Hugh Peters — Wheelright — Settles at 
Exeter — Undcrhill — His banishment from Massachusetts — 
Becomes Governor of Exeter — Is forcibly expelled — The 
jurisdiction of Massachusetts extended — Indian plot — Con- 
duct of Miantinomo — Gorton — His doctrines — Whipped at 
Plymouth — At Rhode Island — Removes to Providence — Set- 
tles at Showamet — Is arrested and carried to Boston — Harsh 
sentence imposed upon him and his followers — Union of the 
New England colonies — Indian war — Execution of Mianti- 
nomo — Submission of the Narragansets — Witchcraft in Mas- 
sachusetts — Instance of credulity — Death of Winthrop — 
His character. 

During the year 1637, the town of New 
Haven was founded by a company of newly- 
arrived emigrants, of whom the most influential 
were Mr. Davenport, a minister eminent for 
his learning and piety, Mr. Hopkins, and his 
father-in-law Mr. Eaton, respectable London 
merchants. New Haven continued a distinct 
colony until 1665, when it Avas incorporated with 
Connecticut. 



1640.] EMIGRATION CHECKED. 103 

AYIntlirop was re-elected governor of Massa- 
chusetts in 1638 ; and, notwithstanding some 
movements which were attempted in England to 
procure the annulment of the charter held by 
the colony, no less than twenty ships, bearing 
three thousand emigrants, came over this year. 

By a bequest from John Harvard, a minister 
at Charlestown, an addition of nearly eight 
hundred pounds sterling was made to the sum 
already appropriated for a public school at 
Cambridge, which, in compliment to the testa- 
tor, was ordered henceforth to take the name of 
Harvard College. 

At the election of 1639, Winthrop was con- 
tinued in the office he so worthily jBllcd : but the 
following year Dudley was chosen governor, and 
Winthrop took his seat as one of the assistants. 

From the first landing of the Pilgrims to the 
year 1640, there had arrived in New England, 
in two hundred and ninety-eight ships, twenty- 
one thousand two hundred passengers. But at 
this period, owing to the success of the Puritan 
cause in England, the tide of emigration was 
stayed. 

This sudden check to increase of population 
from abroad, had, for a season, a marked effect 
upon the fortunes of the New England colonies. 
Prices of cattle, at that time the main dependence 
of the New England farmer, fell to about one- 
sixth of their previous marketable value ; and as 



104 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1641. 

the soil yielded but an indifferent compensation 
for the labour bestowed upon it, many persons 
became greatly discouraged. At this period of 
uneasiness, Lord Say and Seal, having turned 
his attention to colonizing the Bahama Islands, 
sonorht to increase the number of settlers from 
the north country by emigration from New Eng- 
land. In this object, assisted by Humphries, 
once deputy-governor, and still one of the as- 
sistants, he was not altogether unsuccessful; 
though Winthrop clung bravely to the colony 
which had prospered under his guardianship, and 
wrote to Lord Say and Seal that God would 
never have sent his people to New England, <'if 
he had not seen the place sufficient to maintain 
them, or intended to make it so.'' Some of the 
colonists having, however, concluded to make a 
trial of the new home which had been offered 
them, a company embarked, during the year 1G41, 
on board a vessel commanded by Captain Pierce, 
and sailed for Providence, the second in point 
of size of the Bahama Islands. When they 
reached their place of destination, they were sud- 
denly fired upon by a Spanish garrison, who in 
the mean time had seized possession of the island. 
Captain Pierce being shot dead in this unex- 
pected attack, the vessel was put about, and the 
proposed scheme of emigration ended abruptly. 

The dissatisfaction of a portion of the colonists 
with the depressed condition of things evinced 



1641.] FATE OF PETERS. 105 

itseif In the defeat of Winthrop for governor, and 
the choice of Bellingham in his stead, by a small 
and dubious majority. The general court was at 
first disposed to contest the legality of the elec- 
tion ; but, after a long series of angry disputa- 
tions, Bellingham was admitted to his seat. 

To support the interests of the colony, during 
the quarrel between the king and parliament, 
Mr. Weld and Hugh Peters were sent as com- 
missioners to England. Neither of them ever 
returned to America. Weld finally settled as a 
minister at Gateshead, but was expelled from his 
living at the restoration of Charles II. Peters 
embraced with ardour the cause of the Parlia- 
ment ; and, like Vane, suffered death for his re- 
puted treason. 

Wheelwright, who had been exiled from the 
colony for his Antinomian opinions, settled, with 
some thirty-four followers, " on the south side 
of the great bay up Piscataqua River," where 
they opened a plantation to which they gave the 
name of Exeter. Here, subsequently, he was 
joined by Underbill, whose tenets were of a 
familistic character, and who was wont to boast 
of having obtained his religious assurance "while 
he was taking a pipe of the good creature to- 
bacco;" but it appears that the true character 
of his "assurance" was of a far different com- 
plexion, inasmuch as he had been convicted of 
grossly immox'al practices in Massachusetts, and 



106 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1642. 

excommunicated. He, however, managed to in- 
gratiate himself with the people of Exeter, who 
chose him for their governor ; but the opposition 
to him was so great, and religious dissensions, 
both at Exeter and the neighbouring settlement 
at Dover, became so violent, that it was found 
necessary to expel • Underbill and his friend 
Knolles, a licentious Antinomian minister, be- 
fore the distracted settlements could be restored 
to any degree of harmony. 

An inquiry into the limits of the Massachusetts 
patent resulting in bringing within the jurisdic- 
tion of that colony the settlements at Portsmouth, 
Dover, Exeter, and other small villages on the 
Piscataqua River, it was resolved to put an end 
to the distractions which agitated those hitherto 
independent and ill governed plantations by ex- 
tending over them the authority of the general 
court, to which, in return, they were allowed 
to send two deputies. So soon as commissioners 
were appointed to carry this order into effect. 
Wheelwright, and others who had rendered them- 
selves obnoxious to the government of Massa- 
chusetts, retired from Exeter, and established 
themselves in the province of Maine. 

In 1642, Winthrop was again chosen governor. 
Soon after his election tidings was received from 
various sources, but chiefly from friendly Indians, 
that the Narragansets were plotting a general 
massacre of the colonists. This news was the 



1643.] INDIAN TLOT. 107 

more alarming inasmuch as the savages ■were 
beginning to be accustomed to the use of fire- 
arms, of which they had been enabled to procure 
a large supply from the Dutch at Manahattan 
and from reckless English traders. The most 
vigorous preparations were instantly made to 
avert the threatened danger. Connecticut was 
eager to anticipate an attack by commencing 
hostilities at once ; but the more prudent counsels 
of Massachusetts prevailed. The Indians within 
the colony were disarmed, and Miantinomo, the 
chief sachem of the Narragansets, appeared in 
person before the court at Boston, and demanded 
to be confronted with his accusers. Though not 
actually acquitted of the charge, he was finally 
dismissed in safety ; and being made fully aware 
of the suspicions which were aroused against 
him, he abandoned his sanguinary intentions, if 
indeed he had ever meditated any. 

The office of governor was again confided to 
Winthrop during the year 1643 ; but the colony 
was not destined to remain long at one time 
undisturbed by religious difierences. One 
Samuel Gorton, by advocating heterodox prin- 
ciples, had drawn around him a number of fol- 
lowers. Being called upon to explain his 
doctrines, he was so far successful in defending 
himself before his judges as to escape condemna- 
tion. Removing soon after to Plymouth, he was 
seized by order of the authorities of that colony, 



108 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1643. 

tried, found guilty, and publicly whipped. Un- 
able to find sureties for his good behaviour, he 
removed to Rhode Island, -where he speedily ex- 
perienced similar treatment, with the addition 
of imprisonment. At Providence the humane 
Roger Williams f^ave him shelter for a time. 
At length, he sought to establish himself and his 
followers at Patuxet ; but when the inhabitants 
of that place, in order to be relieved of his 
presence, petitioned to be brought under the 
protection of Massachusetts, he purchased, in 
conjunction with eleven others, a tract of land 
called Showamet and removed thither. Over this 
tract Plymouth speedily claimed jurisdiction. 
Two inferior chiefs, however, asserting their 
rightful ownership in the land, went to Boston 
and acknowledged themselves subjects of Massa- 
chusetts. 

By virtue of the authority thus delegated, 
Gorton and his followers were required, under 
guaranty of safe conduct, to appear before the 
general court to answer the complaints against 
them. On their refusal to do so, they were ar- 
rested and carried to Boston, where they re- 
mained imprisoned. Being brought to trial, 
they were convicted of heresy and contempt, and 
sentenced to be imprisoned, to be put in irons, 
and kept at labour. At the same time they 
were admonished that if they attempted to 
escape, or sought by speech or writing to pro- 



1643.] UNION OF THE COLONIES. 109 

mulgate their heretical opinions, they would 
render themselves amenable to the penalty of 
death. To add to the cruelty of this sentence, 
their cattle were ordered to be seized and sold 
to defray the expenses of their arrest, trial, and 
imprisonment. After suffering during the winter 
the penalty which had been awarded against 
them, they were released and banished from the 
colony. Gorton returned to England, where he 
succeeded in obtaining from the commissioners 
for the plantations an order for the restoration 
of his lands in Narraganset Bay ; but through 
the counter representations of the Massachusetts 
authorities, the claim was never made good. 

For some years the proximity of the Dutch 
settlement at New Netherlands, and that of the 
French at Acadia and in Canada, had been 
creating an indefinite sense of uneasiness. Con- 
scious of the necessity of uniting for purposes 
of mutual protection, the four colonies of Massa- 
chusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New 
Haven, under the style of the United Colonies 
of New England, subscribed to " a perpetual 
league, offensive and defensive." By this coye- 
nant each colony bound itself, in case of war, to 
furnish its quota of men in proportion to the 
number of male inhabitants between the ages of 
sixteen and sixty; and agreed to certain articles 
by which the conduct of each plantation, in all 
cases of emergency, should be regulated. This, 

10 



110 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1644. 

the first English confederacy in America, con- 
tinued in force for twenty-three years, and was 
only then dissolved in consequence of the colonial 
charters being annulled by James the Second. 

Mr. Endicott was chosen governor in 1644. 
The enmity which had for some time existed be- 
tween the Narragansets and Mohegans broke 
out this year into open war. Uncas, the sachem 
of the latter tribe, having already proved him- 
self the fast friend of the English, Massachusetts 
garrisoned the country of those sachems who 
had acknowledged themselves subjects of the 
colony, while the colonial commissioners sought 
to put an end to the war by offering to mediate 
between the belligerents. 

In the mean time, however, Miantinomo had 
fallen into the hands of Uncas, and, by the ad- 
vice of the commissioners, had been put to death. 
Exasperated by the loss of their sachem, the 
Narragansets continued to prosecute the war 
notwithstanding the colonies had commanded 
them to desist. Unable to put an end to hos- 
tilities by quiet means, the colonies finally deter- 
mined to protect their allies the Mohegans by a 
resort to force. A voluntary enlistment of three 
hundred men was called for, but proving a fail- 
ure, a resort was had to impressment, the com- 
mand of the levies thus vigorously raised being 
given to Major Gibbons. 

Fully aware of their inability to withstand a 



1649.] DEATH OF WINTHROP. Ill 

force of this character, especially when supported 
by the Mohegans, the Narragansets sent de- 
puties to Boston with offers of submission, and 
finally were brought to agree to the terms of 
peace dictated by the colonial commissioners. 
During the three following years, Winthrop held 
office as governor. 

In 1648, Massachusetts set the first example 
among the American provinces of an execution 
for witchcraft. The victim in this instance was 
Margaret Jones, who was gravely charged with 
having <<a malignant touch." After she had 
suffered death, a portion of her evil reputation 
still clung to her husband. Having embarked 
for Barbadoes, the ship in which he sailed chanc- 
ing to careen over in a somewhat sudden and 
unusual manner, the effect of this movement was 
superstitiously charged upon the poor man. He 
was accordingly seized and kept in strict con- 
finement. It was subsequently asserted by 
credulous persons on board, that from the mo- 
ment he was incarcerated, the ship righted her- 
self and ceased to roll about any more. 

The year 1649 became one of sorrowful re- 
membrance, not only to many of the better class 
of colonists, but to all who could appreciate true 
piety and unselfish benevolence of heart. Early 
in March, Governor Winthrop died. For nine- 
teen years, through sickness and privation, in 
the midst of dangers from without and civil dis- 



112 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1646. 



sensions within, he had remained firm and stead- 
fast to the best interests of the colony. Spending 
his wealth lavishly to advance its prosperity, he 
devoted his own personal efforts to maintain in 
their purity the religious tenets he had espoused, 
and regarded all Ijibour as light that was con- 
ducive to the general good. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Civil war in England — Neutrality of Massachusetts — Its charter 
endangered — Death of Charles I. — Parliament asserts its 
supremacy over the colonies — Massachusetts remonstrates 
— War declared between England and Holland — The colo- 
nies called upon to render assistance — Action of Massachu- 
setts — Capture of Acadia by the English fleet — Executions 
for witchcraft — Oliver Cromwell — His proposition to transfer 
the Puritan commonwealth to Ireland — His second proposi- 
tion — Their reasons for declining to emigrate — Persecution 
of the Quakers — Their origin — Fanaticism and spirit of 
proselytism — Perrot's journey to Rome — Mission to the 
Turkish Sultan — Arrival of the Quakers in Massachusetts — 
Their arrest, imprisonment, and banishment — New laws 
passed against the Quakers — The exiles return to invite 
persecution — Arrival of Mary Clarke — Her special mission — 
Fanatical conduct of the sect — Made amenable to death 
on returning from banishment — Execution of Marmaduke 
Stephenson, William Robinson, Mary Dyer, and William 
Leddra — Arrival of Wenlock — His arrest and condemnation 
— Release of the imprisoned Quakers. 

During the progress of the civil war in 
England, Massachusetts preserved a prudent 
neutrality. When the attempt was made by 
parliament in 1646 to assert its jurisdiction over 



1651.] SUPREMACY OF THE PARLIAMENT. 113 

the colonies, the authorities of Massachusetts 
firmly protested against the innovation as an in- 
fringement of their charter. A spirited remon- 
strance being warmly supported by Sir Henry 
Vane and other influential friends, it was so far 
successful at the time as to induce parliament 
not to interfere with any privileges which the 
colonists had hitherto rightfully enjoyed. 

After the execution of Charles the First, which 
took place in 1649, parliament again vaguely 
asserted its supremacy. It suggested the issue 
of new patents, giving to the Council of State 
the power to appoint governors over the Ame- 
rican colonies, and proposed that courts should 
be held and warrants issued in its name. The 
people of Massachusetts at once took the alarm, 
and pleaded through their agent, Mr. Winslow, 
their right to live under laws of their own mak- 
ing, and to be ruled by authorities chosen by 
themselves. The unsettled condition of afi'airs 
in England prevented any action being taken 
upon a project so full of danger to the independ- 
ence of the American provinces. In 1651, war 
having been declared between England and Hol- 
land, Massachusetts, in common with the other 
colonies, was called upon to take up arms against 
the people of New Netherlands. The general 
court declined entering upon active hostilities, 
considering it " safest for the colonies to forbear 
the use of the sword, but to be in a posture of 

10* 



114 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1655. 

defence." Finally, however, they evinced a 
disposition to yield to the wishes of Cromwell, 
whose favour they enjoyed, and joined with the 
other New England provinces in organizing an 
expedition against Long Island, over one half 
of which the Dutch of Manhattan exercised 
jurisdiction. The command of the united forces 
was intrusted to Major Willard; but owing to 
his incapacity, the enterprise proved unsuccessful. 
On his return, Willard incurred the censure of 
the general court. 

Peace being proclaimed in 1654, the colonial 
troops were disbanded ; but the fleet which had 
been sent from England to co-operate in the 
reduction of New Netherlands, being prevented 
from doing so by the unexpected renewal of 
pacific relations, sailed north against the French 
of Acadia, and took forcible possession of that 
country, although no war existed at the time 
between France and England. 

Another execution for witchcraft took place 
in 1655. This unfortunate victim of a credulity 
common to the period was a poor widow woman, 
originally occupying a respectable station in 
society. Her husband, Mr. Hubbins, had been 
at one time possessed of a good estate, and had 
held ofiices of trust and honour in the colony. 
Having suffered greatly by pecuniary losses, he 
died in poverty, leaving his widow to endure the 
sad change in her lot with such patience and 



1G56.] Cromwell's proposals. 115 

humility as she might. Unfortunately, the con- 
solation to be derived from the exercise of these 
Christian virtues was rejected by the forlorn 
woman. She could not bear that lowly grade to 
which she was reduced without indulging in 
ceaseless complaints and splenetic outbursts 
against her better-conditioned neighbours. These 
annoyances became at length so great as pro- 
bably to produce in the persons assailed a sense 
of fear as well as of aversion. Being accused 
of witchcraft, she was found guilty of the charge 
and executed. 

The ascendency of Cromwell at this period 
tended greatly to enhance the security of the 
New England colonies. The people of Massa- 
chusetts were in an especial manner objects of 
his esteem. He had already proposed for them 
to remove from the sterile soil upon which they 
had settled, and offered them a fairer and more 
fertile home in Ireland, then newly subjected to 
his arms. This offer the colonists had gratefully 
declined, asking nothing but his countenance in 
their behalf with the English parliament, which 
was again meditating the assertion of its supre- 
macy. Continuing still desirous of promoting 
their welfare, Cromwell, after the conquest of 
Jamaica in 1656, endeavoured to prevail upon 
the people of Massachusetts to emigrate 'to that 
fine island ; but their attachment to the rugged 
land where they had endured so much poverty 



116 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1656. 

and suffering, and possibly some fear of being 
curbed in the exercise of their present political 
and religious freedom, prevented them from ac- 
cepting the liberal proposals of their powerful 
but not wholly disinterested friend. 

Having forsaken the comforts of their English 
homes — having voluntarily torn themselves from 
the embraces of beloved friends and endeared 
kindred, in order that they might enjoy in peace 
that system of religious belief to which their 
judgment inclined ; and having at length suc- 
ceeded in founding, at their own expense, amid 
many cares and sorrows, a populous and not 
wholly unprosperous colony in the American 
wilderness, it is scarcely surprising that they 
should have regarded all other sectarians as 
schismatics and innovators, and endeavoured by 
stringent laws to rigidly repress them. 

The persecution which a small congregation 
of Anabaptists had met with in 1651, and their 
subsequent banishment beyond the jurisdiction 
of Massachusetts, only encouraged zealots of 
other denominations to brave a similar punish- 
ment. The most insubordinate of these were 
the Quakers, a sect that, taking its rise in Eng- 
land about the year 1644, soon became as re- 
markable for the deep and sincere piety which 
distinguished many of its members as for the 
wild and reckless enthusiasm by which a smaller 
portion of them were animated. 



1656.] PERSECUTION OF QUAKERS. 117 

The doctrines of Quakerism, first promulgated 
at a time ivhen the religious sentiment was 
struggling to release itself from the thraldom of 
past ages, soon found advocates and supporters, 
many of whom mistook the blind suggestions of 
their own unregulated thoughts for direct com- 
munications from the Holy Spirit. Among 
these, as might have been expected, were a 
number of enthusiastic visionaries, who believed 
themselves especially called upon to denounce 
all sects but their own, and to testify in unmea- 
sured language against obnoxious religious ob- 
servances. Inflamed with the desire to prose- 
lytize the world, one John Perrot undertook a 
journey to Rome to enlighten the pope, while 
others travelled to Constantinople to convert 
the Turkish sultan. The former was confined 
as a lunatic. Of the latter, all were placed 
under arrest, and one was bastinadoed. 

In July, 1656, several Quakers arrived m 
Massachusetts from Barbadoes, two of whom 
Tvere women. Fully aware of the contemptuous 
disregard for existing ordinances indulged in by 
the more zealous of the sect in England, the ma- 
gistrates of Boston brought the law against 
heresy to bear upon the intruders, and ordered 
their immediate arrest. After their persons had 
been examined for those marks which were sup- 
posed at that period to indicate such as dealt in 
witchcraft, no satanic signs being discovered, 



118 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1657. 

their trunks were rifled, and the books found 
therein ordered to be publicly burned. A brief 
imprisonment was imposed upon them, but they 
were finally released and banished the colony. 
Several others who arrived subsequently were 
sent back to England by the vessels in which 
they came. About the same time a law was 
passed to prevent their introduction into the 
colony, and imposing the penalty of stripes and 
coercive labour upon all Quakers that should in- 
fringe it. Undeterred by this enactment, but 
rather glorying in braving the penalty it threat- 
ened, some of those who had been banished 
returned to Massachusetts in 1657 ; and one 
woman, Mary Clarke, leaving her husband and 
a large family in London, came over charged, 
as she declared, with a special mission to rebuke 
the magistrates for their intolerance and oppres- 
sion. These people, spreading themselves among 
the towns and villages, inveighed loudly against 
the doctrines of the Puritans, and treated the 
laws established by the colonial government with 
the most contemptuous disdain. 

After repeated attempts had failed to put an 
end to their phrensied declamation, and the im- 
modest actions by which they were sometimes 
accompanied, the authorities unhappily resorted 
to personal violence. Some of the women were 
whipped, and several of the men condemned to 
lose an ear. Persecution did but increase the 



1657.] QUAKER FANATICISM. 119 

evil. Those who had been exiled the colony re- 
turned to it the first opportunity ; and although 
more stringent laws were now enacted to restrain 
Quakers from intruding within the limits of the 
Massachusetts jurisdiction, numbers of them at 
once determined to force their way into the 
colony and to brave the utmost rigour of the law. 
When seized, they offered no resistance. Sen- 
tenced to be flogged, they yielded with entire 
satisfaction their backs to the executioner. 
Mulcted in pecuniary fines, they quietly declined 
to pay them ; and when ordered to do labour in 
prison, they refused to work. To a resolution so 
firm and unyielding, they united a perseverance 
in seeking proselytes which often approached 
the verge of insanity, and sometimes overstepped 
it. Bold in their defiance of the enactments 
imposed to restrain them, they hurled upon those 
whom they characterized as oppressors the most 
vigorous epithets the language could boast. They 
denounced the religion of the Puritans as a wor- 
ship of the carnal Christ, and prophesied the 
most fearful calamities would befall them unless 
they abandoned their long-cherished creed. They 
proclaimed everywhere the absolute necessity 
of spiritual light, as a guide to religious truth, 
and asserted that all who denied it were blind 
beasts and liars. «' Thus will the Lord break 
you into pieces," exclaimed a Quaker, shivering 
two bottles into fragments in the face of a con- 



120 HISTORY OP MASSACHUSETTS. [1659. 

gregation. Another, named Fauborg, attempted 
to imitate the sacrifice of Abraham, and was 
only restrained by the neighbours, who were 
roused to interfere by the cries of the child. 
The fanaticism of the women Quakers, pure- 
minded and modest as they are acknowledged to 
have been, was carried to the most shameless 
and disreputable lengths. These various acts 
and enormities finally aroused public indignation 
to such a pitch, that, at the close of the year 
1658, a law was passed banishing the Quakers 
from the United Colonies of New England, and 
forbidding their return under pain of death. 
This sanguinary and unjustifiable enactment was 
carried by one vote only. Various staunch 
friends of the government strongly protested 
against it, not only as cruel, but as liable to in- 
vite the persecution it sought to avoid. The 
result soon proved how well-grounded was the 
fear. Marmaduke Stephenson, William Robin- 
son, and Mary Dyer courted the danger to 
which they were exposed, and quietly awaited 
the operation of the law. In September, 1659, 
they were seized, and, after trial, condemned to 
be hanged. The sentence was carried into efiect 
upon Robinson and Stephenson, but Mary Dyer 
was reprieved upon the scaffold, and again thrust 
from the colony. Resolute in seeking a martyr's 
death, she returned soon after, and was publicly 
executed on Boston Common. 



1659.] wenlock's address. 121 

Popular compassion now began to evince itself 
so strongly in favour of those Quakers who yet 
remained in prison, that the magistrates found 
it necessary to publish a vindication of their 
proceedings. The trial of William Leddra took 
place at this period. He also suffered death at 
the hands of the hangman, having refused to 
accept of freedom on the condition of leaving 
the colony for ever. 

While Leddra was upon his trial, Wenlock 
Christisson? another exile, calmly entered the 
court, and rebuked the magistrates for shedding 
innocent blood. This bold infraction of the law 
cost him also his liberty. When put upon his 
trial, he demanded by what authoity the ma- 
gistrates presumed to act in opposition to the 
laws of England, by which alone he claimed to 
be tried. The governor referred to the English 
laws against Jesuits, whose return from banish- 
ment involved the penalty of death. Christisson 
denied the relevancy of the application ; but he 
was found guilty. ««Ideny all guilt," he ex- 
claimed; «'my conscience is clear toward God." 
Sentence of death was pronounced against him. 
" Consider what you gain," said he. ''For the 
last man put to death, here are five come in his 
room ; and if you have power to take my life 
from me, God can raise up the same principle 
of life in ten of his servants, and send them 
among you in my stead." 
11 



122 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1659. 

Struck by the force of his argument, the ma- 
gistrates hesitated to carry their sentence into 
effect. The voice of the people also inclining to 
mercy, Christisson and the whole of his impri- 
soned associates, to the number of twenty-seven, 
were soon after released from prison and sent out 
of the colony. From this period no Quakers suf- 
fered death on account of their religion, although 
they still occasionally underwent the penalty of 
whipping and imprisonment, for repeatedly re- 
turning from that banishment to which they were 
as constantly doomed. 



1659.] GOVERNORS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 123 



CHAPTER IX. 

Governors of Massachusetts — Restoration of Charles IT. — Ar- 
rival of Whalley and Gofie — Their arrest ordered — Charges 
preferred against the colony — Project for a governor-general 
of the New England provinces — -Action of the general court 
— Agents appointed to proceed to London — Response of the 
king — Change required in the Massachusetts government — 
— Additional complaints — Appointment of royal commis- 
sioners — Their arrival at Boston — Embark for New York — 
Capture of that province from the Dutch — Return of the 
commissioners — Their arbitrary proceedings — Difficulties 
with the general court — Report to the king — Deputies 
ordered to be sent to Ijondon — Prosperity of Massachusetts 
— King Philip's war — Christian Indians — The Wampanoag 
and Narraganset tribes — Cause of the war — Massacre at 
Swanzey — Mount Hope taken — Narragansets constrained to 
remain neutral — Progress of the war — Brookfield attacked — 
Deerfield burned — Northfield abandoned — 'Attempt on Hat- 
field — Alarm in Massachusetts — Extraordinary levies — 
Slaughter of the Narragansets — Lancaster burned — Groton 
Chelmsford — Medfield attacked — Warwick and Providence 
devastated — Massacres in Plymouth colony — Activity of the 
colonists — Capture and execution of Canonicus — Pursuit of 
Philip — His death. 

After the death of Winthrop in 1649, Dudley 
and Endicott became alternately governor and 
deputy-governor of Massachusetts until the death 
of the former in 1653. During twelve of the 
subsequent twenty years, Endicott was continued 
in the office of chief magistrate, and at his de- 
cease Bellingham was chosen governor at eight 
successive annual elections. 



124 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1660. 

During the period of the civil wars in Eng- 
land, and the subsequent protectorate of Crom- 
well, Massachusetts gradually increased in wealth 
and population ; but upon the death of Cromwell 
the prospects of the New England provinces were 
overclouded. Anticipating the restoration of 
Charles II. to the English throne, they prudently 
refrained from acknowledging the supremacy 
either of Richard Cromwell or of the Long Par- 
liament. 

By the same vessels which, in July, 1660, 
brought the first tidings of the restoration of the 
monarchy, came over Whalley and Goffe, two 
of the regicides, whose lives were endangered 
by the altered condition of affairs in England. 
They were well-received by Endicott, and treat- 
ed by other prominent persons in the colony 
with great attention and respect. 

The news of the re-establishment of the Stuart 
dynasty met with but dubious credence ; and it 
was not until the information was authenticated 
by fresh arrivals during the month of the follow- 
ing December, that the general court agreed 
upon addresses to the king and parliament. 
Having embodied in their address to the king 
a petition for the preservation of their civil and 
religious liberties, the prompt response of Charles 
was so favourable, that, upon the receipt of his 
reply, a day of thanksgiving was specially set 
apart. But, in the midst of the general joy, an 



1661.] RUMOURED CHANGES. 125 

order, which arrived at the same time, for the 
arrest of Whalley and Goffe, created great anx- 
iety for the safety of the fugitives. In obedience 
to the royal mandate, the magistrates caused the 
proclamation against the regicide judges to be 
promptly published ; and lent, unwillingly, such 
aid to the officers of the law as they were called 
upon to give. Various and repeated efforts were 
made to secure the persons of the fugitives; but 
there is little doubt that the latter were enabled 
to evade the search by timely information re- 
ceived secretly from persons occupying promi- 
nent official stations in the colony. 

Charges having been almost immediately pre- 
ferred against the colony, of intolerance against 
the Quakers, and of usurping powers not autho- 
rized by the charter, an answer to the com- 
plaints was demanded by the king. At the same 
time it was rumoured that the unrestricted com- 
merce heretofore carried on by the New England 
provinces with Virginia and the West Indies 
was to be prohibited, and that the arbitrary in- 
tentions of the king were foreshadowed in the 
revival of the project for a governor-general in 
America. 

Justly alarmed at these suspicious intimations, 
the general court, during the month of May, 
1661, adopted and published a series of resolu- 
tions, defining the powers with which the au- 
thorities of Massachusetts were clothed by the 
11* 



126 HISTORY OP MASSACHUSETTS. [1661. 

charter of the province, and expressing the de- 
termination of the government to defend the 
rights of the people even by force of arms if it 
should be found necessary. To comply, however, 
with the requisition of the king, they sent Simon 
Bradstreet and John Norton to London, to affirm 
the loyalty of the province, to petition for a 
continuation of its rights and privileges, and to 
defend it from unfavourable representations. 

It was not without great reluctance that the 
colonial agents accepted an appointment which 
threatened to endanger their personal liberty ; 
but their anticipations of detention in England 
proved groundless. Charles received them with 
a graciousness and favour altogether unexpected ; 
and, finally, enabled them to return to Massa- 
chusetts, bearing a letter, in which he promised 
to confirm the charter of the provinces, and to 
continue to the people those rights and privileges 
to which they were entitled. There were, how- 
ever, some requisitions in the letter which the 
people were inclined to receive with less favour. 
The general court was directed to administer 
the oath of allegiance to every person within the 
province; to pronounce all laws invalid which 
had been made during the interregnum; to 
select the officers of the colony for their wisdom 
and integrity, without regard to their religious 
tenets ; and to extend the right of suffrage to 
all freeholders of unblemished character. 



1664.] COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED. 127 

Tlicre can be no question that the changes 
thus required to be made in the policy of the 
Massachusetts government were both liberal and 
gracious ; but the people, having adopted a form 
of polity which they believed to be best in ac- 
cordance with their religious faith, were not dis- 
posed to admit any alterations which might afford 
a precedent for future interference. They there- 
fore only so far complied with the requirements 
of the king as to conduct judicial proceedings in 
his name. 

This sturdy adherence to the principles they 
had espoused was promptly seized by certain 
designing persons in England, who were eager 
for an opportunity of renewing their charges 
against the Massachusetts authorities. To their 
complaints Charles himself lent no unwilling ear ; 
and while protesting his willingness to preserve 
the provincial charter, he determined to ascer- 
tain how far the people of Massachusetts had 
transcended its provisions. 

It was speedily understood that commissioners 
would be appointed to supervise the colonial go- 
vernment, and that they would be supported by 
an English fleet intended for the reduction of 
New York. A commission was in fact issued 
soon after to Sir Robert Carr, Colonel Nichols, 
George Cartwright, and Samuel Maverick — the 
latter a determined enemy to the Massachusetts 
colony. The safety of the charter was imme- 



128 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1665. 

diately provided for; preparations for defence 
•were made, and a day of solemn fast speedily 
appointed. 

The commissioners reached Boston toward the 
close of July, 1664, and at once demanded that 
troops should be levied to assist in reducing 
the Dutch. Impatient at the delays to which 
they were subjected, they re-embarked on board 
the fleet, and set sail for New York. The 
bloodless reduction of the territory known as 
New Netherland to the authority of England, 
rendering the duties of the commissioners com- 
paratively easy; they returned to Massachusetts 
in the spring of 1665. In the mean time, the 
authorities of the latter colony had prepared 
a strong remonstrance against the threatened 
infringement of their charter, and petitioned, 
at the same time, that the powers of the com- 
missioners should be revoked. 

But even the warmest friends of Massachu- 
setts in England were indisposed to support the 
justice of a protest they could neither under- 
stand nor appreciate; nor did the subsequent 
high-handed measures of the commissioners them- 
selves lead men to see that the authority under 
which they acted was wholly unconstitutional. 
Their arbitrary and overbearing conduct was 
well calculated to increase their unpopularity. 
The regular authorities refusing to assemble 
the freemen of the colony, the commissioners 



1660.] ARBITRARY PROCEEDINGS. 129 

assumed the sole responsibility of doing so, and 
issued the order for a convention under their 
own names. Holding themselves as vested with 
powers superior to those with which the people 
had clothed the colonial magistrates, they ex- 
tended their protection to persons under prose- 
cution ; and recognising the right of appeal to 
themselves, in a suit already decided by the pro- 
per judge, they opened the case anew, and sum- 
moned both parties to appear before them. 
Against this encroachment upon their acknow- 
ledged privileges, the general court strongly 
protested ; and, as a matter of conciliation, of- 
fered to hear the cause over again in the pre- 
sence of the commissioners : but this proposition 
was rejected. 

While the dispute was still unsettled, the 
commissioners visited New Hampshire and 
Maine. A hasty decision pronounced the claims 
of Mason and Gorges to those territories to 
be valid; and annulled, at the same time, the 
jurisdiction of Massachusetts. After suppress- 
ing the old authorities, and appointing new, 
they returned to Boston. Exasperated by these 
summary measures, the general court demanded 
an interview with the commissioners. This, how- 
ever, the latter indignantly refused, and having 
reported the conduct of Massachusetts to the 
king, with more vindictiveness than became their 
station, they were recalled in 1666 ; and, at the 



130 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1675. 

same time, the general court was ordered to 
send deputies to England, to answer the charges 
preferred against the province. By a cautious 
and temporizing policy, and by presents of masts 
and provisions judiciously timed, the imminence 
of the danger was averted. But the ultimate de- 
sign of the king was suspended, not abandoned. 

The great plague and the fire of London 
occurred to prevent him from immediately car- 
rying out his plans ; and for several years subse- 
quent to the recall of the commissioners, the 
New England provinces continued in the enjoy- 
ment of their ancient privileges without inter- 
ruption. 

Governor Bellingham, a man of great learning 
and integrity, was continually re-elected until 
1670. During this period the province greatly 
increased in wealth and population. An exten- 
sive and profitable traffic in lumber and fish was 
carried on with Spain, Portugal, and the West 
Indies, the commercial restrictions which had 
been imposed in England being systematically 
and resolutely evaded. 

From the period of the Pequod war until 1675, 
the colonies of New England had been enabled 
to preserve amicable relations with the neigh- 
bouring Indians, many of whom, by the unwearied 
exertions of Eliot and Mayhew, and other de- 
voted missionaries, were induced to embrace 
the Christian religion. These converts, how- 



1675.] RESTLESSNESS OF THE INDIANS. 131 

ever, were mostly confined to the smaller Indian 
communities ; the powerful tribes of the Narra- 
gansets and the Wampanoags, or Pokanokets, 
still retaining the belief of their fathers. 

Of these two warlike nations, one, by the rapid 
spread of the English plantations, was shut in 
between Plymouth and Connecticut ; and the 
other confined mainly to the narrow peninsulas 
formed by the northern and eastern branches of 
Narraganset Bay. 

Being in a measure constrained, from time to 
time, to part with portions of their territory to 
the colonists, the limits of their ancient hunting- 
grounds became gradually circumscribed within 
bounds which admitted of being watched by the 
English. Thus forced back by the advancing 
tide of population, Philip of Pokanoket, chief 
of the Wampanoags, the son and successor of 
the friendly sachem Massasoit, began to grow 
restless under the various restraints to which his 
own movements, and those of his tribe, were 
subjected. Canonchet, the sachem of the Narra- 
gansets, a tribe at this period numbering a 
thousand warriors, was scarcely less uneasy. 
The Wampanoags themselves boasted seven hun- 
dred fighting men. Suspicion of hostile designs 
already rested on Philip, who had been com- 
pelled to surrender the firearms in his possession, 
and to enter upon stipulations, which failing 
to comply with, he was in consequence, subse- 



132 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1675. 

quently mulcted bj the Plymouth authorities in 
a heavy fine. 

An Indian convert, who had resided for some 
time at Mount Hope in the service of Philip, on 
returning to Cambridge to resume his former 
office of teacher there, charged Philip with being 
engaged in planning an extensive massacre of 
the English. The haughty chieftain was at once 
sent for to answer the accusation, and although 
his replies were scarcely considered satisfactory, 
was permitted to return to his tribe. A short 
time afterward, the treacherous informer was 
w^aylaid and murdered by three of Philip's 
people, who themselves were subsequently 
seized, tried by a mixed jury, condemned, and 
executed. 

Eager to revenge the death of their compa- 
nions, a party of warriors, on the 24th of June, 
fell suddenly upon the frontier settlement at 
Swanzey, and slew some eight or nine English. 
Already some houses had been burned in the 
neighbourhood of Mount Hope, and their in- 
habitants driven off. Magnified by terror, the 
belief in an extensive conspiracy quickly spread. 
Plymouth, as the most exposed, quickly took 
measures for defence, and within four days from 
the attack on Swanzey, a party of horse from 
Massachusetts set out to form a junction with 
the Plymouth forces. 
^ These troops succeeded in capturing, with but 



1675.] INDIAN RAVAGES. 133 

little resistance, the Wampanoag villages at 
Mount Hope ; but they were already partially 
abandoned. Crossing the bay, the Provincials 
next penetrated the Narraganset country, and 
constrained that powerful tribe to deliver up 
hostages for the maintenance of peace. 

In the mean time Philip, driven from his pa- 
ternal home, and forced into a war in opposition 
to his own wishes, sought refuge among the in- 
land tribes, whom he speedily succeeded in win- 
ning over to his assistance. The hatchet was 
soon after uplifted all along the entire frontier 
of New England, and the usual horrors of Indian 
warfare speedily followed. Its desultory cha- 
racter only rendered it the more alarming. The 
feeble, outlying villages were the first to experi- 
ence the vengeance of the exasperated savages. 

On the second of August, Captain Hutchinson 
and sixteen men fell into an ambush and were* 
killed. The same day Brookfield was attacked 
and devastated. The river Indians now joined 
in the war. Deerfield was burned ; Northfield 
was abandoned. Captain Beers, with twenty of 
his men, while hastening to the relief of North- 
field, fell victims to the vigilance of outlying 
Savages. On the 18th of September, Captain 
Lathrop, with an entire company of eighty picked 
men, experienced a similar fate. Springfield was 
next partially burned ; and an unsuccessful at- 
tempt was made, on the 19th of October, to 

12 



134 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [16T5. 

capture the town of Hatfield, ^hese successes 
stimulated the Indians on the Merrimack to 
commence hostilities also. The alarmed settlers 
upon the Massachusetts frontiers were driven in 
toward Boston, and the whole colony was thrown 
into a fever of excitement. Imagination now 
lent its aid to swell the extasy of terror. Strange 
signs and configurations wxre seen in the heavens. 
An Indian bow, distinct in shape, was beheld by 
credulous persons in the sky. Spectral horse- 
men bestrode the clouds, and the rush of their 
invisible steeds w^as heard through the air. The 
moon was eclipsed, and displayed in the centre 
of its orb the figure of an Indian scalp. Fanati- 
cism saw in the war, and the ominous portents 
by which it was said to be accompanied, a judg- 
ment upon their sins; and the general court, 
after deliberate consultation with the elders, 
recounted many little follies and vanities 
which had of late been fostered and encouraged, 
especially by the younger portion of the com- 
munity. 

The commissioners for the New England colo- 
nies met in September, and resolved to make 
common cause in carrying on the war. A thou- 
sand men was at once ordered to be raised for 
the general protection of the plantations, and 
an equal number was soon after directed to be 
levied for an expedition against the Narragan- 
sets, who, though not in arms themselves, were 



1675.] MASSACRE OF THE INDIANS. 135 

charged with encouraging and sheltering the 
hostile tribes. 

On the 18th of December these troops, led by 
Josiah Winslow, entered the Narraganset coun- 
try. The following day, after wading with 
difficulty through a deep snow for fifteen miles, 
they came in sight of the numerous wigwams of 
the enemy, clustered upon a small island in the 
midst of a morass, and protected by a palisade 
of logs and a thick and almost impenetrable 
hedge.'* Through the only entrance into this 
enclosure, exposed to a perfect blaze of fire from 
the sheltered Indians within, the captains reso- 
lutely advanced at the head of their respective 
companies. Six of these gallant officers were 
shot dead in the fierce struggle which ensued. 
For two hours, with varying fortune, the fight 
was maintained ; but at length the Indians gave 
way, the fort was carried by the assailants, and 
nearly six hundred wigwams were immediately 
in a blaze. The winter's store of provisions was 
consumed, and hundreds of the aged, the timid, 
and the weak perished in the flames. The sur- 
vivors of this terrible massacre, driven shelterless 
into the forest, deprived of food, and in constant 
terror of pursuit, dragged out a miserable exist- 
ence, until, weakened by famine and stricken by 
exposure, many of them died. Others, infuriated 
by their disasters, joined with roving bands of 



136 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1676. 

Indians and revenged themselves by falling upon 
the frontier settlements. 

On the 10th of February, 1676, Lancaster 
was burned, and forty of its inhabitants killed 
or carried away into captivity. Groton and 
Chelmsford were also subjected to repeated 
attacks. On the 21st, Medfield, a village within 
twenty miles of Boston, was vigorously assaulted 
and one-half of the houses laid in ashes. War- 
wick and Providence, towns in Rhode Island, 
were next wholly or partially destroyed. The 
whole of the Narraganset country was aban- 
doned. The colony of Plymouth bled at every 
pore. At Pawtucket a company, commanded 
by Captain Pierce, was almost annihilated. 
Another, under Captain Wadsworth, experienced 
a similar fate. But the injuries inflicted by the 
savages were not equal to the endurance of the 
English. Armed parties scoured the forests in 
every direction. Deprived of their accustomed 
supplies of food, many of the Indians sufi'ered 
all the pangs of starvation. On the Connecticut, 
an encampment, consisting of a large number of 
hostile Indians, was surprised on the 19th of 
May by a strong volunteer detachment under 
Turner and Holyoke, and almost completely 
annihilated. The Narraganset country was 
overrun, and Canonchet, the chief sachem, taken 
a prisoner. Glorying in the resistance of the 
Indians, he refused the offer of his life on con- 



107(5.] DEATH OF VUl\M*. 137 

ditlon of procuring a })(*iic(!. Ho received IiIm 
sentence of deatli lieroicaHy. *' 1 like it Widl," 
said li(». "I shall dio before I speak any thing 
UHworlliy of nl3^s('lf." 

I'liilip himself, hunled from plii,ce to phi(;e and 
deserted by his allies, after vainly endeavouring 
to prevail upon the Mohawks to take part in the 
contest, desperat(dy retmiuMl to Mount Hope 
with the shattered remnant of those who still 
chmrr to him. l^ein^ closely presacMl hy the re- 
nowned partisan, Oa[)taiii.(Jhurch, his wife and 
son fell into the hands of his pursuers, and ho 
himself escaped with diflleulty. A few days 
after he was a^ain surprised in his hidin;^-])l;iee ; 
and while his terrified followers were ollering a 
feeble resistance, he was shot dead hy an Indian 
fighting in the ranks of the l^higlish. His cap- 
tive son was transport(Ml to IJei'iniida, and sold 
as a slave. Thus ended King IMiilip's war, dis- 
astrous alike to theconfjuerors and the conquered. 
Thirte(;n villages had he(m destroy(?d, six hun- 
dred houses laid in ashes, and more; than that 
number of English had perished by the hands 
of th<; infui-iated savages. On the oth(;r hand, 
the losses sustained by the Jndia,ns were immense. 
Th(} gi'(iat tribes of th(5 Wanipanoags and tho 
Na.n-agans<!ts lia,d ])VAm nearly annihilated; and 
of those who ha,d eseapcMl, but very lew ever ven- 
tured to return to their ancient hunting-grounds. 

12* 



138 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1676. 



CHAPTER X. 

Charter of Massachusetts threatened — Agents sent to England 
— Their return — The charter vacated — Dudley appointed 
president — Andros appointed governor of all the New Eng- 
land provinces — His exactions and tyrannical conduct — 
Revolution in England — Insurrection in Massachusetts — 
Deposition and imprisonment of Andros — Bradstreet chosen 
president — War between England and France — Activity of 
Frontenac — Cocheco devastated — Pemaquid attacked and 
taken — Schenectady burned — Settlement at Salmon Falls 
surprised — Capture of fort at Casco Bay — Phipps captures 
Port Royal — Expedition to Canada — Its ill success — Issue 
of paper money — New charter of Massachusetts — Phipps 
appointed governor — Salem witchcraft — Cotton Mather — 
Spread of the delusion — Its terrible efTects throughout the 
colony — Execution of Mr. Burroughs — Flight of the Brad- 
streets — Accusation of Lady Phipps — Reaction — Conduct 
of Judge Sewell— Of Mr. Parrish. 

In the mean while, during the progress of a 
war which laid nearly one-half of the English 
settlements in ruins, the privy council of 
Charles II. were meditating the recall of the 
Massachusetts charter. On the 10th of June, 
while the contest was still raging on the northern 
frontiers, Edward Randolph reached New Eng- 
land, bearing a letter to the Massachusetts 
authorities, commanding them to send over com- 
missioners to answer charges preferred against 
the colony. These commands were reluctantly 
complied with, and William Stoughton and Peter 



1684.] THE CHARTER VACATED. 139 

Bulkley were despatched with a memorial from 
the general court, having particular reference 
to the right of jurisdiction exercised by Massa- 
chusetts over Maine and New Hampshire. 

The committee appointed in the early part of 
1677 to examine the charters, having pronounced 
the title to the territory of Maine to be vested 
in the heirs of Gorges, Massachusetts sought to 
put an end to the dispute by purchasing the 
charter of that province from the proprietaries 
for twelve hundred and fifty pounds. 

The agents from Massachusetts being entrusted 
with powers expressly limited, found but little 
favour from the English ministry. They re- 
turned to the province in 1679, other agents, 
clothed with fuller authority, being demanded 
by the king. But the fate of the charter had 
been predetermined. Firmly resolved not to 
surrender by a voluntary act those rights and 
privileges which had been formally granted the 
original founders of the province, the general 
court instructed their agents to that effect ; and 
a quo warranto having been issued, they declined 
contending with the king in a court of law. 
Such being the case, the suit steadily progressed 
to a close without opposition, and on the 18th 
of June, 1684, the charter was adjudged to be 
vacated. This judgment being subsequently 
confirmed, a copy of it was despatched to the 



140 niSTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1686. 

colony, where it arrived on the second of July, 
1685. 

From 1G73 to 1679, John Leverett had been 
annually elected governor of the colony. At 
his decease, ho was succeeded by the aged Brad- 
street, almost the only survivor of the earlier 
colonists. The latter was regularly chosen 
chief magistrate until the charter was annulled, , 
when James II., who had succeeded to the 
English crown, commissioned Joseph Dudley, 
a son of the former governor of that name, as 
president, until a governor should be regularly 
appointed. Sixteen others were associated with 
Dudley, and the joint commission was also au- 
thorized to exercise authority over Maine, New 
Hampshire, and Narraganset. 

This was, however, but a temporary arrange- 
ment. Toward the close of 1686, Dudley was 
superseded by Sir Edmund Andros, who was 
transferred from the chief magistracy of New 
York and appointed governor of all the New 
England provinces. 

The supple and subservient character of An- 
dros had already preceded him. His arbitrary 
conduct soon rendered him still more unpopu- 
lar. Under the specious pretext that the for- 
feiture of the charter had invalidated all the 
titles to land in the colony, and that the fee was 
in the crown, he required a confirmation of all 
deeds under his own hand, for which he exacted 



1689.] ANDROS IMPRISONED. 141 

the most exorbitant charges. In this measure 
he was supported by Randolph, who had been 
appointed colonial secretary and judge of pro- 
bate. By the consent of at least a portion of 
his council, he proceeded to levy taxes in an 
equally arbitrary manner, and subjected to fine 
and imprisonment various respectable citizens, 
who, disputing the legality of the measure, firmly 
refused payment. A respectful address to the 
king failing to put a stop to the rapacity of his 
governor, Increase Mather, one of the most 
popular clergymen in the province, was selected 
to proceed to England and endeavour to obtain 
some relief from the grievances under which the 
colonists laboured. 

But events were maturing in England by which 
the gubernatorial career of Andros was brought 
to an unexpected close. In the spring of 1G89, 
a rumour reached Boston that William Prince 
of Orange had successfully accomplished a 
bloodless revolution in the mother countiy, 
and that James II. had fled the kingdom and 
taken refuge in France. Without waiting for 
the tidings to be confirmed, the people of Massa- 
chusetts immediately assembled in arms, gained 
possession of the fort, and seizing Andros, Ran- 
dolph, and other obnoxious persons, placed them 
in strict confinement until they could be sent to 
England. 

Until instructions should be received from 



142 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1689. 

abroad, a council of safety, of which the vene- 
rable Bradstreet was appointed president, was 
organized to administer the government in the 
form in which it existed under the charter. 

In a few weeks, the success of the Protestant 
revolution, and the accession of William and 
Mary to the throne of England, was placed be- 
yond a doubt. The Council of Massachusetts 
was oflBcially recognised, and ordered to continue 
the government in the ancient manner until the 
king's further pleasure should be made known. 

In the mean time, war had been declared 
between England and France. Count Frontenac, 
the governor of Canada, having been prevented 
from invading New York by the necessity of de- 
fending his own territory against an irruption 
of the Five Nations, encouraged his Indian allies 
to undertake a number of smaller enterprises 
along the exposed frontiers of New York and 
New England. 

On the night of the 27th of June, 1689, the 
Penacook warriors, led by Castine, surprised 
Cocheco, partly destroyed the village, and killed 
or bore away into captivity fifty-two of the in- 
habitants. 

The Penobscot Indians, influenced by a French 
priest, next invested the stockade fort at Pema- 
quid, on the Merrimack, and after a siege of 
two days, compelled the garrison to surrender 
themselves prisoners of war. In mid winter, a 



1690.] CAPTURE OF PORT ROYAL.' 143 

party of French and Indians from Montreal, 
after wading through the snows for three weeks, 
fell suddenly upon the village of Schenectady, 
burned many of the houses, and massacred sixty 
of the inhabitants. In the early spring of 1690, 
the brutal Hertelle, with a mixed party of French 
and Indians, surprised the village at Salmon 
Falls, killed nearly all the male inhabitants, and 
led off into captivity fifty-four persons, mostly 
women and children. Forming a junction with 
a third party of his countrymen, Ilertelle nex4; 
attacked the fort at Casco Bay, destroyed by 
stratagem a part of the garrison, and captured 
the remainder. 

Impressed with the danger to which the eastern 
colonies were exposed, the government of Massa- 
chusetts fitted out at its own expense an expedi- 
tion against Port Royal, in Acadia, the command 
of which was given to Sir William Phipps, an 
officer who, by the force of native energy alone, 
had raised himself from the humble condition of 
a farmer's boy to rank and station. The enter- 
prise proved successful in every respect. Port 
Royal was captured, and possession taken of the 
whole territory. Leaving a part of his troops 
to garrison his conquest, Phipps returned in 
triumph to Boston. 

He had scarcely reached that city before he 
was appointed to command the naval forces in 
an expedition which, at the instigation of Massa- 



144 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1G90. 

cliusetts, New York and the New England colo- 
nies had consented to organize against Canada. 
The enterprise proved wholly unsuccessful. The 
land forces under Winthrop, taken principally 
from New York and Connecticut, and intended 
to march against Montreal — in the midst of 
complaints and bickerings among the men, and 
mutual recriminations between Winthrop and 
Milbourne, the commissary — proceeded as far as 
Lake George, when provisions became scarce, 
•and the small-pox broke out among the troops. 
These disasters, joined to the insubordination 
which had crept into the army, speedily occa- 
sioned its disbandment. 

The fleet under Phipps, consisting of thirty- 
two vessels, having on board two thousand men, 
had sailed in the mean while from Boston, with 
the intention of surprising Quebec. Nine weeks 
were spent in the cautious ascent of the St. Law- 
rence, during which time Winthrop 's expedition 
had been broken up. Relieved from the defence 
of Montreal, Frontenac, apprized* of the advance 
of Phipps, hastened to strengthen and reinforce 
Quebec. An attack under these circumstances 
not proving advisable, and the approach of win- 
ter preventing the operations of a siege, the 
provincial fleet returned home without eff'ecting 
any thing. This want of success fell the more 
heavily upon Massachusetts, inasmuch as the 
great burden of the expense was borne by that 



1692.] NEW CHARTER GRANTED. 145 

colony. The pressure of the debt thus created 
"vvas partially relieved by the issue of bills of 
credit, this being the first introduction of paper- 
money into the American provinces. 

Massachusetts continued to be governed by 
the aged Bradstreet and his council, until the 
year 1692, when a new charter was granted by 
the king, the provisions of which were scarcely 
so favourable as the people had been led to hope. 

Under the new charter, the king reserved to 
himself the appointment of governor, lieutenant- 
governor, and secretary, and a negative within 
the term of three years upon all laws passed 
in the colony. The elective franchise was ex- 
tended to every inhabitant whose personal estate 
amounted to forty pounds sterling, and to every 
freeholder whose annual income exceeded forty 
shillings. By the style and title of '' The Province 
of Massachusetts Bay," the new patent embraced 
within its jurisdiction the Plymouth colony, the 
province of Maine, and the territory of Acadia 
or Nova Scotia. At the instance of the agents 
in England, Sir William Phipps, always popular 
in the province, was commissioned as governor. 
"William Stoughton, an excellent scholar, and a 
gentleman of good legislative abilities, received 
the appointment of lieutenant-governor. 

It was at the beginning of this year, that 
many persons of piety and good understanding 
were again led to believe in the great prevalence 

13 



146 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1692. 

of witchcraft in the province. Prominent among 
the most credulous of these was Cotton Mather, 
son to the Reverend Increase Mather, for some 
time past the agent of Massachusetts in England, 
and himself a clergyman. Mather had already 
written a book upon the subject of witchcraft, 
published some three years before, in which he 
had expressly avowed himself a believer in the 
existence of wizards and witches, and in their 
ability to hold intercourse with evil spirits. 
Many others also entertained similar opinions, 
and this credulity had been fortified by the 
strange conduct of four Boston children, who, 
in 1688, by affecting to be afflicted in various 
w^ays, had procured the accusation and execution 
of an old Irish servant woman, against whom the 
oldest daughter of the family, a girl of thirteen, 
had imbibed a strong dislike. These children, 
probably imitating at first the example of their 
artful sister, and subsequently encouraged to 
persevere by the sympathy they excited, would 
bark like dogs, pur like cats, pretend to be lame, 
or halt, or blind, or dumb, and to have their limbs 
forced into strange and unnatural shapes. At 
other times they would complain of being pinched 
by invisible hands, or would cry out that they 
were pricked, or tortured by the same unseen 
agency. 

The delusion was credited: and though it 
spread no further at that time, yet in February, 



1692.] EXECUTION OF BURROUGHS. 147 

1692, the children of Mr. Parris, the minister at 
Salem village, now called Danvers, pretended to 
be seized in a manner similar to those whose ex- 
traordinary case Mather had recorded as wit- 
nessed by himself, four years previous in Boston. 
The alarm of witchcraft was again sounded 
abroad. The ministers fasted and prayed with 
the distressed father. The villagers of Salem 
also fasted and prayed ; and the fear of demoni- 
acal influences becoming general, a day of fasting 
and prayer was specially set apart to be kept by 
the whole colony. The belief in witchcraft being 
thus solemnly recognised and fostered, it was 
not long before the delusion spread across the 
whole breadth of the province. The number of 
victims so rapidly increased, that many of the 
colonists, perfectly panic-stricken, became the 
accusers of others, lest they should be brought 
under suspicion themselves. The execution at 
Salem village of Mr. Burroughs, a minister 
of a blameless life, was a terrible instance of 
the power which the delusion exercised over the 
strongest minds in the community. For fifteen 
months this strange belief held full possession of 
the popular faith. During this period, out of 
twenty-eight persons capitally convicted of witch- 
craft, nineteen had been hanged and one pressed 
to death. The audacity of their accusers increas- 
ing with their success, at length led them to rashly 
fulminate charges against persons of station and 



148 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1692. 

consequence. The sons of the aged Bradstreet, 
and many other persons of equal rank and piety, 
had abeady been compelled to seek safety in 
flight. One hundred and fifty individuals, a 
portion of whom had previously occupied re- 
spectable stations in society, were in prison 
awaiting their trial, and probable condemnation, 
when accusations of witchcraft were preferred 
against Lady Phipps, and against some of the 
nearest relatives of Increase Mather, who had 
returned to Boston, in May, with the new go- 
vernor. 

From the moment these last charges were 
made, a doubt began to be entertained of the 
truth of those which had preceded them. A 
citizen of Boston boldly met a similar accusation 
by arresting his accusers, and suing them for de- 
famation of character. The spell was dissolved. 
Those who had already learned to doubt, now had 
their doubts confirmed. Public opinion assumed 
a healthier character ; and, at the ensuing trials 
of those already imprisoned, but three out of 
fifty were convicted of practising forbidden acts, 
and these the governor immediately reprieved. 

The popular indignation now began to turn 
against the former witnesses, many of whom 
solemnly recanted their testimony, defending 
themselves on the plea of being constrained to 
perjure themselves in order to save their own 
lives. 



1692.] CONDUCT OF JUDGE SEWELL. 149 

A portion of the clergy, among whom was 
Mather, still persisted in asserting the truth of 
witchcraft; but this opinion did not prevent 
Sewell, one of the Salem judges, to publicly 
crave the prayers of the people for any errors 
he might have committed in the supposed dis- 
charge of his duty ; while Mr. Parris, the clergy- 
man from whose house at Salem village the de- 
lusion spread, finding that a solemn profession of 
repentance, publicly made, did not relieve him 
from the odium of the inhabitants, was finally 
compelled to resign his ministry, and seek a 
refuge elsewhere. 



fj* 



150 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1692. 



CHAPTER XL 

Sir William Phipps — Fort built at Pemaquid — Treaty with the 
eastern Indians — Dissatisfaction in Massachusetts — Diffi- 
culties with Phipps — Summoned to England to answer 
charges — His acquittal and death — Stoughton's administra- 
tion — French and Indian hostilities — Descent on Durham — • 
Recapture of Port Royal — Destruction of the fort at Pema- 
quid — Expedition of Church to the Bay of Fundy — Andover 
and Haverhill attacked — Peace of Ryswick — Arrival of Earl 
of Bellamont — His popular course — Dudley appointed go- 
vernor — Disputes with the assembly — War between England 
France, and Spain — Settlements in Maine destroyed — 
Burning of Deerfield — Charges against Dudley — Unsuc- 
cessful expedition against Port Royal — Expedition organized 
against Canada — Its disastrous result — Treaty of Utrecht — 
Unpopularity of Dudley — His recall — Governor Shute — His 
quarrel with the general court — Returns to England — Ad- 
ministration of Dunmore — Governor Burnet — His difficulties 
and death — Arrival of Governor Belcher — War with Spain 
— Paper money agitation in Massachusetts — -Removal of 
Belcher — Governor Shirley — War with France — Capture of 
Louisburg — Treaty of Aix la Chapelle. 

Notwithstanding the favour with which the 
elevation of Sir William Phipps to the chief 
magistracy was at first regarded by the people 
of Massachusetts, as an ofiicer commissioned by 
the crown, he could not be expected to retain 
his popularity for any great length of time with 
colonists accustomed to elect their own rulers, 
and jealous of all interference. Upon his ele- 
vation to office, the hostile Indians were at first 



1695.] DEATH OF PHIPPS. 151 

disposed to court a peace with the New England 
provinces, but were eventually dissuaded from 
doing so by the intrigues of the French. Their 
sanguinary excesses on the Merrimack were, 
however, partially controlled by Phipps, who, at 
the head of a small force, marched to Pemaquid, 
and, building a fort at that important point, left 
a competent garrison for its defence. 

The erection of this substantial military post 
so effectually overawed the eastern Indians, that 
during the following year they renounced their 
allegiance with the French, and made peace with 
the English. Still the people were not satisfied. 
The construction of the fort at Pemaquid had 
burdened the colony, already heavily in debt, 
with an additional weight ' of taxation ; and the 
enemies of Phipps took advantage of the warmth 
of his temper to provoke him into altercations 
unbecoming his position. After quarrelling with 
the collector of the port, and inflicting personal 
chastisement upon the captain of a man-of-war, 
articles of impeachment were preferred against 
him, which he was summoned to England to 
answer in person. On the day of trial, the 
charges were summarily dismissed, and the ac- 
count which Phipps gave of his administration 
having met with the approbation of the king, he 
was about to return to the colony, when he was 
seized with a fever, which ended fatally in the 
month of February, 1695. During the absence 



152 HISTORY OP MASSACHUSETTS. [1696. 

of Phipps in England, the exercise of supreme 
authority had devolved upon Stoughton, the 
lieutenant-governor, in -whose hands the admi- 
nistration continued until the arrival of the Earl 
of Bellamont, as successor to Phipps, in 1698. 

The Indian treaty at Pemaquid did not remain 
long unbroken. In 1694, the war broke out 
afresh. Instigated by the missionary Thury, a 
party of warriors, led by French officers, fell 
suddenly upon the settlement at Oyster River, 
now known as Durham, and killed or made pri- 
soners of nearly one hundred inhabitants. Port 
Royal had already been recaptured by Yillebon, 
and soon after the whole of Acadia returned to 
its ancient allegiance. On the 17th of August, 
1696, the fort at Pemaquid was besieged by a 
mixed force of French and Indians, and the gar- 
rison compelled to surrender themselves prisoners 
of war. The fort was laid in ruins, and the sur- 
rounding settlement devastated. Church re- 
taliated by destroying Beau Bassin, a French 
settlement in the Bay of Fundy. He even 
sought to dislodge Villebon from St. John's, but 
the attempt was not successful. 

Animated to renewed exertions by the 
successes of the French, their Indian allies 
spread themselves over the territory of Massa- 
chusetts. During the early part of 1697, they 
penetrated to within twenty-five miles of Boston, 
attacked the towns of Andover and Haverhill, 



1702.] DISPUTES WITH TUE ASSEMBLY. 153 

killed a part of the inhabitants, and carried 
many others into captivity. The treaty of llys- 
wick, proclaimed at Boston toward the close of 
the year, produced a temporary cessation of 
hostilities, while it restored to each party the 
conquests that had been respectively made. 

Bcllamont, who had also been commissioned 
to govern New York and New Hampshire, did 
not assume personally the administration in Mas- 
sachusetts until 1699. His course was at once 
popular and conciliatory. He sought and main- 
tained the friendship of the clergy by deferring 
to their religious opinions, and by observing 
great punctuality and decorum in his attendance 
at church and lectures. His affability was not 
without its reward. The liberality of the general 
court, with respect to his salary, was far greater 
than ever had been accorded to any preceding 
governor. Upon the death of Bellamont at New 
York in 1701, the ambitious and unpopular 
Joseph Dudley was appointed governor of the 
province. His personal application for the office 
having proved successful, he reached Boston 
in June, 1702, and soon found himself engaged 
in a quarrel with that sturdy party of popular 
men, some of whom had risen against the tyranny 
of Andros, and still defended, to the utmost of 
their ability, the rights and privileges of the 
people. Carrying out the royal instructions, 
Dudley demanded of the assembly that the 



154 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1704. 

salaries of the governor and the crown officers 
should be permanently fixed, and not established 
by an annual grant as heretofore. But as the 
consequence of this would have been to render 
the governor and his subordinates independent 
of the legislature, the house of delegates declined 
compliance with the instructions, and was sus- 
tained in the adoption of this resolution by the 
action of the council. 

In 1702, war having been again declared by 
England against France and Spain, preparations 
were actively made in Canada for a resumption 
of hostilities along the eastern frontiers. So 
perfect were the arrangements between the 
French and their Indian allies, that on the day 
of the 10th of August, 1703, a simultaneous 
attack was made by them upon all the English 
settlements in Maine lying between Casco and 
Wells. Most of the unfortunate inhabitants 
were either indiscriminately massacred or hur- 
ried oif into an almost hopeless captivity. 

In March, 1704, Hertelle, at the head of 
three hundred and fifty Canadians and Indians, 
traversed the deep snows bordering the Con- 
necticut, and entering at midnight the village of 
Deerfield, applied the torch to the houses of the 
sleeping inhabitants. Awakened to their danger 
by the crackling of flames, and the shouts of 
bloodthirsty men, forty-seven of the inhabitants 
fell victims to the fury of their enemies, while 



1707.] HOSTILITIES RECOMMENCED. 155 

over one hundred otliers were taken prisoners to 
Canada. To revenge this barbarous onslaught, 
the veteran Church, the hero of King Philip's 
Tvar, was sent with six hundred men against the 
French establishments on the Penobscot, an 
expedition which occasioned a great popular 
clamour against Dudley, who was unjustly ac- 
cused of abstaining from an attack upon Port 
Royal, out of consideration for the illegal traffic 
carried on with that place with his mercantile 
friends. In 1705, a suspension of hostilities was 
proposed by the governor of Canada, but rejected 
by the general court, much against the desire of 
Dudley, who, by delaying the negotiation, suc- 
ceeded for two years in preventing the resump- 
tion of warlike operations. 

In 1707, hostilities recommenced. England 
had, in the mean time, promised to assist in the 
conquest of Canada ; but the reinforcement not 
arriving, Massachusetts, assisted by Rhode Island 
and New Hampshire, undertook an expedition 
against Port Royal. One thousand troops were 
raised for this service and placed under the com- 
mand of Colonel March; but the enterprise 
ended disastrously. The fort being found too 
strong to be carried without breaching artillery, 
the surrounding settlement was devastated, and 
the scattered hamlets along the coast reduced to 
ruin. The army being met at Casco Bay on its 
return home by commissioners from Massachu- 



156 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1708. 

settSj "was prevailed upon to make a second 
attempt upon Port Royal; but the effort only 
occasioned a considerable loss of life from disease 
among the attacking forces, without inflicting 
any considerable damage upon the enemy. 

In 1708, the fierce Hertelle again left Canada, 
and entering the valley of the Merrimack, fell 
upon Haverhill in the gray of morning, plundered 
and set fire to the houses, slew some fifty of the 
inhabitants, and, although hotly pursued, suc- 
ceeded in carrying off as many more prisoners 
into Canada. 

To put an end to these daring incursions, the 
project of an invasion of Canada was revived. 
But the promised succours were delayed. And it 
was only by the solicitations of the governors of 
New York and the eastern provinces that Nichol- 
son and Vetch, sent as agents to England, could 
obtain the assistance of two ships-of-war and 
five hundred marines. This aid, even with the 
addition of the provincial forces, which consisted 
of four New England regiments, not being suffi- 
cient to justify operations against Quebec and 
Montreal, the army, under the command of 
Nicholson and Vetch, embarked in transports 
and sailed to attack Port Royal. The capture 
of that important fortress proved, from the 
weakness and insubordination of its garrison, an 
easy achievement. The commander reluctantly 
agreed to a capitulation. Acadia was once more 



1711.] EXPEDITION AGAINST CANADA. 157 

in the hands of the English; but Vetch, who, 
"with four hundred men, was left to garrison the 
new possession, soon found his post invested by 
the French and Indians. 

At length, in 1711, such imposing preparations 
for the conquest of Canada were made by the 
English government, that the capture of that 
extensive French dependency was regarded as 
certain even before the sailing of the fleet. This 
fleet, comprising fifteen ships of war and forty 
transports, was commanded by Admiral Sir 
Hoveden "Walker. The land forces, which ac- 
companied the expedition, consisted of seven 
regiments of regulars and a battalion of marines. 
It was intended that this formidable armament 
should proceed to attack Quebec, while the pro- 
vincial levies, already organized, marched to the 
assault of Montreal. As usual, the expedition 
shamefully failed. Eight of the vessels were 
wrecked in the St. Lawrence on the 22d of 
August, with a loss, by drowning, of nearly nine 
hundred men. 

Glad of an excuse to abandon the expedition, 
Walker availed himself of the opportunity which 
this disaster afibrded him, and ordering the ves- 
sels to put back, ingloriously returned home, 
rejoicing that by the loss he had already suff'ered 
he had been saved from hazarding the lives of 
the rest of his command. From this period the 
14 



158 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1716. 

war languished until 1713, when it was ter- 
minated by the Treaty of Utrecht. 

Unpopular from the beginning, and regarded 
by many of the oitizens as a degenerate son of 
their old and deeply venerated governor, Dudley 
could neither prevail upon the colonial delegates 
to carry out the king's instructions in respect to 
salaries, nor would they yield in the slightest 
degree to any measures which conflicted with 
their legislative independence. The debts in- 
curred in the prosecution of the late protracted 
wars pressing so heavily upon the colony as to 
depreciate the value of the paper currency, it 
was finally concluded to seek monetary relief in 
the creation of a public or a private bank. To 
the scheme of private banking Dudley was op- 
posed ; and this opposition increasing the dislike 
of the wealthier class, a vigorous attempt was 
made to obtain the recall of the obnoxious go- 
vernor, which was soon after crowned with 
success. 

On the arrival of Colonel Shute as governor 
in October, 1716, the advocates of private bank- 
ing again attempted to carry out their views. 
Shute declared himself in favour of the public 
bank, and consented to relieve the still existing 
scarcity of money by a large additional issue. 
This mode of mitigation being subsequently re- 
sorted to from time to time, in answer to the 
public clamour, the bills quickly depreciated, 



1728.] GOVERNOR BURNET. 159 

while no measure of permanent relief could be 
devised by the general court. 

It was not long before Shute found himself 
engaged in a controversy with the assembly, by 
his rejection of Elisha Cooke, a popular leader, 
as a member of his council. The quarrel thus 
commenced, gradually extended through several 
years, until it embraced the question of per- 
manent salaries for the crown officers, which 
Shute attempted to exact in compliance with the 
royal instructions. The assembly, however, 
would consent to none other than annual grants ; 
and, in 1721, as the dispute grew warmer, de- 
clined to vote any salaries at all until the gover- 
nor should a.gree to offer no opposition to the 
bills the house was about to pass. Wearied out 
at last by continual opposition, Shute, in 1722, 
having obtained permission to visit England, 
secretly quitted the province, leaving the duties 
of his office to be fulfilled by Dummer, the lieu- 
tenant-governor, who continued for the next six 
years to administer the affairs of the colony. 
By judiciously yielding to the authority exercised 
by the general court, Dummer was enabled to 
carry on the government without much disagree- 
ment until he was superseded, in 1728, by the 
amiable and upright Burnet, previously governor 
of New York. Strictly adhering to the tenor 
of his instructions, Burnet soon became involved 
in disputes with the general court similar to 



160 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1739. 

those which had imbittered the career of his 
predecessors. After a short time, these conten- 
tions unfortunately produced so great an effect 
upon his health, that, being seized with a fever, 
he died suddenly in September, 1729. 

Jonathan Belcher, the agent of the general 
court in England, was appointed to succeed 
Burnet. He was authorized to compromise the 
long pending dispute in respect to salary by 
accepting a permanent annual grant of one 
thousand pounds. But, notwithstanding the fa- 
vour with which he was at this period regarded, 
the house, declining to sacrifice its independence, 
steadfastly adhered to its system of annual ap- 
propriations. 

Unable to enforce his instructions, Governor 
Belcher at length consented to accept such 
yearly sums as the provincial delegates were 
disposed to allow. But, as the projects of the 
English government aimed at a complete restora- 
tion of the king's prerogative by coercing the 
general court to strictly conform to the royal 
instructions, Belcher was finally relieved from 
his provincial dependence by receiving his salary 
directly from the royal exchequer. 

AVar breaking out between England and Spain 
in 1739, Massachusetts, in common with the 
other American provinces, was called upon to 
furnish its quota of troops to reinforce the im- 
posing armament which, under the command of 



1741.] GOVERNOR SHIRLEY. 161 

Cathcart, made, soon after, the disastrous attempt 
upon Carthagena. At the time this demand was 
made, the province was engaged in a bitter dis- 
pute with Belcher in relation to a re-issue of 
paper money. 

Belcher not only resolutely opposed extending 
the time for the redemption of the old paper 
currency, or the creation anew of a similar cur- 
rency, but distinctly denounced the various 
schemes for joint-stock banking which agitated 
the community. The projectors of these asso- 
ciations were, however, more powerful than the 
governor. They obtained a large majority in 
the house of delegates ; and, while alarming Bel- 
cher with the fear of an insurrectionary move- 
ment to compel him to consent to their demands, 
w^ere making secret applications in England for 
his removal. 

In this object, greatly to the astonishment of 
Belcher, they succeeded, and, in 1741, "VYilliam 
Shirley, a popular lawyer of English extraction, 
but a resident of Boston for eight years preced- 
ing his advancement, was appointed to assume 
the administration of the province. The sagacity 
of Shirley, and his thorough knowledge of the 
people over whom he had been commissioned 
to preside, enabled him for some years to con- 
duct the affairs of his government much more 
Bmoothly than his predecessor. 

The first intimation received by Massachusetts 
14* 



162 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1741. 

of a new war between France and England, was 
the capture of Fort Canso, in Nova Scotia, by a 
party of Canadians. 

Annapolis, formerly known as Port Royal, 
was besieged soon after, but received timely 
relief through the activity of Shirley. The re- 
ports of the English prisoners of war captured 
at Canso, and subsequently^ released on their 
parole, indicating the possibility of taking, by a 
vigorous assault, the strong fortress of Louisburg, 
the legislature of Massachusetts, by a majority 
of one vote, authorized the organization of an 
expedition for that purpose. Of the forces em- 
ployed in this bold undertaking, three thousand 
two hundred men were raised by Massachusetts, 
five hundred by Connecticut, and three hundred 
from New Hampshire. This gallant little army, 
commanded by General Pepperell, and subse- 
quently assisted by four ships of war under 
Commodore Warren, landed on the island of 
Cape Breton on the 30th of April. After two 
weeks' immense labour, the troops succeeded in 
dragging the siege-artillery through an inter- 
vening swamp. The subsequent operations 
against the fortress being conducted with equal 
vigour and resolution, on the 16th of June the 
garrison, consisting of about two thousand regu- 
lars and militia, surrendered themselves prisoners 
of war. 

The conquest of this important post encouraged 



1748.] TREATY OF AIX-LA-CIIAPELLE. 1G3 

the colonies to entertain the old project of an 
invasion of Canada ; but after vast preparations 
were made, and the provincial levies had ad- 
vanced as far as Albany, the British fleet failed 
to arrive, and the enterprise was abandoned. 
Disheartened by this failure, nothing further 
was attempted beyond the protection of the fron- 
tiers against the Indians, and the hasty assem- 
bling of troops at Boston, which, in 1746, was 
threatened by a French fleet consisting of forty 
ships of war, having on board three thousand 
veteran troops. 

The danger from the latter soon passed away. 
Sickness had greatly weakened the cff'ective 
force of the French ; the Duke D'Anville, com- 
manding the squadron, died suddenly. The 
second in command committed suicide. A 
storm scattering the vessels, some were wrecked, 
and such as outrode the fury of the tempest re- 
turned, one by one, to various ports in France. 
From this time, the war was languidly conducted 
on both sides, and was at length brought to a 
close, in 1748, by the peace of Aix-la-Chapclle. 



164 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1T48. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Prosperous condition of Massachusetts — 'Duplicity of Shirley 
— He sails for England — The provincial laws — Their revi- 
sion advised by the English ministry — Cape Breton restored 
to the French — Chagrin of Massachusetts. — The province 
indemnified for the expense of the Louisburg expedition — 
Returns to specie currency — Dilliculties between England 
and France — Boundary dispute — 'Acadia — French encroach- 
ment — The Ohio Company — Advance of the French — Cap- 
ture of unfinished works at the forks of the Ohio — George 
Washington — His skirmish with Jumonville — Retreats to 
Great Meadows — Capitulates and retires across the moun- 
tains — Convention at Albany — Union of colonics discussed 
' — Plan of Franklin accepted — Its rejection by the colonies 
— Scheme of the Board of Trade — Action of Massachusetts 
— Arrival of Braddock — 'Plan of campaign — Expedition to 
Acadia — The Acadians — Their primitive manners — Their 
happy pastoral life — Success of the expedition — Deportation 
of the Acadians. 

In spite of tlie harassing nature of the war, 
and the pecuniary difficulties under which the 
people of Massachusetts laboured, the condition 
of the province continued prosperous. This has 
been attributed to the vigorous character of 
Shirley's administration ; but it was, doubtless, 
more owing to the indomitable spirit of the 
people themselves. Shirley unquestionably en- 
tertained views inimicable to provincial liberty; 
and only three months previous to the ratifica- 
tion of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, he had 



1752.] THE PROVINCIAL LAWS. 165 

concerted with Clinton, the governor of New 
York, during a social interview at Albany, a 
scheme for securing the independence of the 
governors by either forcing the respective pro- 
vincial assemblies to grant permanent salaries to 
the civic officers, or, failing in that, to so foment 
matters as to attain the same result by parlia- 
mentary interference. To further these views, 
and also to lay before the English ministry his 
opinions in relation to the ulterior designs of 
the French, Shirley sailed for England during 
the month of September, 1749, leaving Sir 
William Phipps, the lieutenant-governor, to ad- 
minister the affairs of the province. Nearly 
four years elapsed before Shirley returned and 
reassumed the duties of his office. During this 
period, however, nothing of more importance 
occurred than the attempt made in 1752, by the 
English ministry, to procure a revision of the 
laws of the province. But as the ratification of 
the modified code was made dependent upon the 
approval of the king, the house of representa- 
tives, apprehensive of some secret encroachment 
upon their liberties, declined to unite with the 
council in recommending the measure, on the 
ground that, as the people were satisfied with the 
existing laws, it was unnecessary to make any 
alteration. 

By the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, all territory 
captured during the progress of the war re- 



166 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1753. 

turned to its original jurisdiction. Under this 
provision, the English became repossessed of 
Madras, and the French of Cape Breton. As 
the people of Massachusetts regarded the latter 
as their own especial acquisition, the order to 
surrender Louisburg was received with consider- 
able dissatisfaction. The recognition of the 
claim of Massachusetts to be disbursed the ex- 
penses incurred in the expedition against Cape 
Breton tended, however, in a considerable de- 
gree, to reconcile the province to the surrender 
of the conquered territory, although some show 
of feeling was manifested among the people in 
respect to the manner in which the indemnity 
was proffered them ; they claiming it as a right, 
while the English ministry would consider it 
only in the shape of a gift. After considerable 
discussion, the money, amounting to some eight 
hundred thousand dollars, was paid in specie to 
the proper authorities. Previous to its arrival, 
Hutchinson, the historian, at that time speaker 
of the house of delegates, supported by Shirley, 
who returned to his government in 1753, pre- 
vailed upon the general .court to apply the indem- 
nity to the redemption, at a small discount, of 
the depreciated paper money then in circulation. 
This measure, though strongly opposed at first 
by the populace, from a misconception of its 
tendency, was immediately carried into effect, 
and the province was scarcely in possession of a 



1753.] BOUNDARY DISPUTE. 167 

sound hard-money currency, before all factious 
opposition ceased, and was succeeded by an 
almost universal feeling of satisfaction. 

It was not long subsequent to Shirley's return 
to Boston before the impression became general 
that war with England and France would be re- 
sumed at an early day. The Treaty of Aix-la- 
Chapelle had tended, in no wise, to settle the 
original grounds of dispute. The boundaries 
between the French and English possessions were 
left undetermined, with the understanding that 
they should remain as they were previous to the 
war. Nothing could possibly have been a greater 
source of altercation than such an agreement. 
For twenty years previous to the war, the 
quarrel had constantly turned on territorial 
limits ; and as the question still remained open, 
both parties considered themselves justified in 
making their jurisdiction as extensive as pos- 
sible. 

By the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, the whole 
of Acadia, according to Its ancient limits, was 
ceded by France to Great Britain. A difficulty 
speedily arose as to how far the ancient limits 
of the territory actually extended. The French, 
contending that the Acadia yielded to England 
was confined to the peninsula now known as 
Nova Scotia, proceeded to take possession of the 
isthmus connecting It with the main land. Shel- 
tering themselves among the Acadians in the 



168 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1753. 

town of Chignecto, they compelled tlie inhabit- 
ants to swear allegiance to the French sove- 
reign. After applying, unsuccessfully, for as- 
sistance from Massachusetts, Cornwallis, the 
governor of Acadia, sent a detachment of four 
hundred men to drive off the French, and re- 
cover the town. 

The first expedition returned without having 
accomplished its purpose ; but in a second at- 
tempt, made soon after, the English were suc- 
cessful, though not without loss of life. The 
position of the town on the northern extremity 
of the Bay of Fundy, being one of importance, 
Fort Lawrence was immediately erected, in order 
to secure its possession for the future. The 
French, however, still maintained their posts at 
the mouth of the St. John's River; and from 
their alliance with the neighbouring Indian 
tribes, were enabled to keep possession of the 
disputed territory from Bay Vert to the Pe- 
nobscot. 

On the frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylva- 
nia similar difficulties had arisen. In 1749, the 
Ohio Company, an association composed of Lon- 
don merchants, and Virginia speculators, obtained 
a grant of six hundred thousand acres of land, 
on the east branch of the Ohio, or between the 
Monongahela and Kanawha rivers. Anticipat- 
ing their design, the Count de la Galissoniere, 
governor-general of Canada, during the same 



1754.] FRENCH ENCROACHMEXTS. 169 

year, despatched an officer with three hundred 
men to trace out, and occupy the valley of the 
Ohio. In conformity with these instructions, 
De Bienville and his command proceeded to take 
formal possession of the territory in question, by 
burying plates of lead at the mouth of every re- 
markable stream, forbidding, at the same time, 
the Indians to continue their traffic with the En- 
glish, and ordering all traders out of the country. 
From this time until the spring of 1754, ex- 
ploring parties were diligently thrown forward 
by both nations ; but the activity of the French, 
guided by one mind, and devoted to the achieve- 
ment of one object, was far greater than that 
of the English. Already the former had estab- 
lished military posts at Erie, Waterford, and 
Venango. Dinwiddie, the governor of Virginia, 
writing to England for advice, had been ordered 
to expel the intruders by force, f The mission of 
George Washington to the commandant of the 
French posts on the Ohio proving unsuccessful, 
Virginia granted ten thousand pounds toward 
the defence of the frontiers, and a party of 
forty-one men hastened, early in 1754, to build 
a military station at the confluence of the Alle- 
ghany and Monongahela Rivers. The military 
force of Virginia was increased to six hundred 
men; and of this regiment, Washington was 
commissioned as colonel. During the month of 
April, the working party at the forks of the 
15 



170 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1754. 

Ohio was suddenly attacked and driven off by a 
detachment of French under Contrecoeur, who 
took possession of the unfinished works; and 
having enlarged, completed, and garrisoned it, 
named the fort thus acquired Fort Duquesne. 

The next month, Washington, who had hasten- 
ed to the defence of the frontier, encountered 
a detachment of French under Jumonville. In 
the skirmish that ensued the enemy were de- 
feated with the loss of their leader. This suc- 
cess was, however, temporary. The enemy ap- 
proaching in force soon after, Washington was 
compelled to fall back with his command to a 
rude stockade fort he had thrown up at Great 
Meadows, where, in a few days, he was invested 
by some fifteen hundred French and Indians. 
After a brief, but spirited defence, the fort was 
surrendered on terms, the garrison being per- 
mitted to recross the mountains, bearing with 
them their baggage and equipments. Although 
war had not been formally declared, a rupture 
between France and England becoming inevi- 
table, the latter endeavoured to bring about that 
unity of action among the colonies which the 
legislative independence of the respective as- 
semblies had hitherto prevented. 

With this view, a convention of commissioners 
from the several colonial assemblies was held at 
Albany, during the month of June, 1754. After 
renewing the ancient covenant with their allies, 



1754.] PLAN OF UNION. 171 

the Iroquois, the commissioners, turning to the 
consideration of provincial affairs, unanimously 
came to the conclusion that no plan of proper 
co-operation would be obtained but by a union 
of all the colonies. A committee, consisting of 
one delegate from each province represented, 
was accordingly appointed to draw up a scheme 
of union and consolidation. Of this committee 
Hutchinson, of Massachusetts, was appointed 
chairman. Another prominent member was Ben- 
jamin Franklin, early in life a poor printer's 
boy in Boston, but at this period one of the 
most influential men in Pennsylvania, whose as- 
sembly he represented in convention. The plan 
drawn up by Franklin was the one finally adopt- 
ed. Its principal features were, the creation of 
a grand council, to be formed of members cho- 
sen by the respective provincial legislatures, 
which, with a governor-general, to be appointed 
by the crown, should be authorized to make 
general laws, and to raise money from all the 
colonies for the common defence. 

But this scheme, though approved of by the 
convention, was rejected by the colonial assem- 
blies, and regarded with distrust by the Board 
of Trade. The former were unwilling to concede 
any of their privileges, either to a central power 
chosen by themselves, or to one appointed by 
the crown. The latter, astonished at a provin- 
cial plan for a general government, complete in 



172 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1754. 

itself, regarded it with disfavour, as restricting 
too much the royal prerogative. But the most 
powerful cause of its rejection by the Board of 
Trade, arose from their having framed a plan of 
their own ; and, it is not improbable, that the 
call for a convention originated in the wish 
to impose their particular scheme upon the 
colonies. A few months after the close of the 
convention, their plan was submitted by Shirley 
to Franklin, w*hose opinion in regard to it was 
desired. The Board of Trade proposed the crea- 
tion of a grand assembly, to be composed of 
colonial governors, and select members of their 
respective councils. This grand assembly was 
to be clothed with power to originate measures 
of defence, and to draw upon the British treasury 
for the expenses they involved, the latter being 
reimbursed, subsequently, by taxes imposed on 
the colonies by act of parliament. 

Nothing, however, could be more distasteful 
to the colonies than appropriations involving 
taxation by parliament. To Massachusetts, the 
plan was peculiarly repulsive ; and Bollan, the 
agent of the province in London, was particu- 
larly instructed to oppose any thing that should 
"have the remotest tendency to raise a revenue 
in America, for any public uses or services of 
government." 

While these plans were undergoing popular 
discussion, Shirley was diligently engaged in 



1755.] ARRIVAL OF BRADDOCK. 173 

placing the eastern frontier of the province in 
a state of defence. Treaties with the Indians 
were renewed, and Forts Halifax and Western 
on the Kennebec, were built. 

Notwithstanding a desultory warfare had com- 
menced along the frontier, negotiations were 
still pending between England and France. 
Shirley, also, as commander-in-chief of the co- 
lonial forces, was actively engaged in organizing 
the provincial levies. Massachusetts contributed 
largely and liberally to accomplish this desirable 
result. Reinforcements consistinfj of two rec:i- 
ments of regulars, under General Braddock, 
who had been appointed commander-in-chief in 
America, were also on their way to America. 
Braddock had no sooner set sail, than France 
despatched additional troops to Canada, under 
command of the veteran Dieskau. 

Admiral Boscawen, with an English fleet, im- 
mediately sailed in pursuit. He arrived off New 
Foundland slightly in advance of the squadron 
he was ordered to intercept, but Dieskau was 
enabled to evade the English cruisers, and 
reached Canada in safety. 

Braddock no sooner reached America, early 
in the spring of 1755, than he called a conven- 
tion of colonial governors at Alexandria, in 
Virginia, for the purpose of consulting upon the 
plan of the campaign. Several expeditions, 
simultaneously conducted, were finally resolved 

15^^ 



174 HISTORY OP MASSACHUSETTS. [1755. 

upon. One, under the direction of Lawrence, 
lieutenant-governor of Acadia, was to capture 
the French military posts asserted to have been 
built within the boundaries of that province. 
Colonel William Johnson, of New York, was to 
conduct a mixed force of provincials and Indians 
against the French works at Crown Point, near 
the head of Lake Champlain. Shirley, second 
in command to Braddock, was to dislodge the 
French from Niagara ; while Braddock, with 
his two regiments of regulars, and a few com- 
panies composed principally of Virginians under 
Colonel Washington, undertook, in person, the 
capture of Fort Duquesne. 

In the three latter expeditions Massachusetts 
had a considerable share; seven thousand nine 
hundred men, or nearly one-fifth of the efi"ective 
force of the province, being engaged in them. 
A considerable portion of these levies was des- 
tined to operate against the French posts in 
Acadia. 

Sixteen years before the landing of the Pil- 
grims at Plymouth, a small French colony had 
established itself upon the peninsula now known 
as Nova Scotia, but to which the early set- 
tlers had given the name of Acadia. With the 
lapse of time, the little colony gradually in- 
creased both in numbers and prosperity. Re- 
proached for their adherence -to the Catholic 
faith by the more intolerant of their puritan 



1755.] THE ACADIANS. 175 

neighbours, the}'- were not unfrequcntly drawn 
into disputes wholly at variance with their quiet 
habits, and pastoral mode of life. At length, 
by the Treaty of Utrecht, Acadia became a 
province of Great Britain. True to the lan- 
guage, manners, customs, and religion of their 
forefathers, the old inhabitants still regarded 
France with undiminished affection, even while 
yielding submissively to the jurisdiction of 
England. This love of their native country 
more particularly displayed itself in their re- 
fusal to bear arms against her ; a feeling which, 
Armstrong, at that period lieutenant-governor, 
judiciously respected, and humanely required 
nothing more of the Acadians than to take the 
oath of allegiance to Great Britain. From their 
declining to participate in any contest between 
their countrymen and the English, this peace- 
ful people received the name of French neutrals. 
Forgotten, or neglected, by subsequent go- 
vernors, for nearly forty years, the simple Aca- 
dians continued to lead a life of quiet happiness 
and increasing prosperity. Their unwearied in- 
dustry had won from the ocean, meadows of the 
richest verdure. Over these noble pastures 
roamed numerous flocks of sheep, and herds of 
the finest cattle. Clothed in garments derived 
from flax grown in their own fields, or from 
wool of their own shearing, and with all their 
domestic wants supplied by their own labour, 



1T6 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1755, 

this people had almost realized a condition of 
Arcadian simplicity. Clustering in little com- 
munities around their humble churches, happy 
in their neutrality, and in the enjoyment of the 
products of their industry, they lived, for the 
most part, free from contentions, pure in morals, 
and at all times affectionately disposed to assist 
one another. 

But with the colonization of Nova Scotia by 
England, terminated the happy existence of this 
primitive people. Envied for their prosperity, 
despised for their simplicity, and suspected for 
their religion, they soon began to suffer from the 
intolerance of the new settlers, and from the in- 
justice of those in authority. 

France, desirous of restricting the province 
of Acadia to the peninsula, had erected the two 
Forts of Beau Sejour and Gaspareau, on the 
isthmus connecting Nova Scotia with the main- 
land. To the capture of these, in the latter 
part of May, 1755, and while Boscawen, off 
New Foundland, was .watching for the appear- 
ance of the French fleet, three thousand men 
embarked from Boston, under the command of 
John Winslow. On their arrival at Chignecto, 
at the head of the Bay of Fundy, they were 
joined by three hundred regulars, under Colonel 
Monckton, on whom the command now devolved. 
Taken by surprise, the two forts fell into the 
hands of the English almost without resistance ; 



1755.] EXPULSION OF THE ACADIANS. 177 

another detachment from the English forces, 
at the same time, took possession of the fort 
and village of St. John's, which had been burned 
and abandoned bj the French. The conquest 
of all the region cast of the St. Croix River 
having been thus easily accomplished, the Aca- 
dians were called upon to take the oath of 
allegiance to Great Britain. To this demand 
they yielded readily, but could not pledge them- 
selves to serve against France. A few of their 
young men having been captured fighting at 
Beau Sejour, Lawrence, the lieutenant-governor, 
affected to fear a general revolt in the province, 
notwithstanding the French commander, in sur- 
rendering the fort, had stipulated for the free- 
dom of the young Acadians, on the ground that 
they had taken up arms only through compul- 
sion. This plea had been admitted by the En- 
glish, by agreeing to the stipulation. A large and 
complete force was in possession of every strong- 
hold in the province, and the inhabitants had 
given up, unresistingly, their boats and fire-arms, 
still Lawrence pretended to be apprehensive of 
their pacific intentions. "They possess the 
best and largest tracts of land in the province," 
said he. " If they refuse the oath it would be 
much better they were away." Their expulsion, 
determined upon from the first, was now at- 
tempted to be legalized by the mockery of a 
judicial decision ; a plan having been secretly 



178 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1755. 

arranged to seize them by surprise, men, women, 
and children, and to distribute them through the 
several colonies. 

Alarmed at the foreshadowing of some mys- 
terious calamity, the Acadians offered to take 
the oath of allegiance in any form the authori- 
ties might desire ; but this act of meek sub- 
mission was now refused. Regarded by the 
prejudiced conquerors as <■<■ popish recusants," 
their deportation was resolved upon. 

Unconscious of what w^as to follow, all the 
male inhabitants of Acadia above nine years of 
age, in obedience to a general proclamation, as- 
sembled on the 9th of September, at places pre- 
viously indicated. At Grand Pr^, one of these 
posts, four hundred and eight unarmed men met 
together. Having been marched into the church, 
the doors of which were immediately closed, 
Winslow, commanding the Massachusetts forces, 
notified them that their lands and tenements, 
and their personal property, were forfeited to the 
crown ; and that they themselves were to be re- 
moved from his majesty's province of Nova 
Scotia. Their wives and families shared this 
sudden blow. The homes they had quitted in 
the morning they were never to see again. This 
was not all. On the day of embarkation they 
were driven on shipboard at the point of the 
bayonet, not in families, nor in a single vessel, 
but divided according to sex, and in different 



1755,] DEPORTATION OF THE ACADIANS. 170 

ships, destined for different colonics. By this 
heartless arrangement, husbands and wives, pa- 
rents and children, brothers, sisters, and be- 
trothed lovers, in spite of tears and agonizing en- 
treaties, were torn from one another, many of 
them never again destined to meet on earth. 

From the 10th of September to the middle of 
December, the work of embarkation went slowly 
on; the unfortunate Acadians being, in the 
mean while, crowded together on the coast, suf- 
fering from an insufficiency of clothing, and 
begging for bread. 

Seven thousand of these unfortunate people 
were thus callously deprived of their homes ; 
which, after their departure, were razed to the 
ground, to prevent them from affording a shelter 
to any of the exiles that should chance to return. 
Distributed among the colonies, more than a 
thousand were carried to Massachusetts, where 
they remained a public burden, until, heart-bro- 
ken and hopeless, they finally languished away. 



180 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1755. 



CHAPTER XIII. ' 

Expedition against Crown Point — Fort Ed war J built — Ap- 
proach of Dieskau — Defeat and death of Colonel Williams — 
Battle of Lake George — Shirley's advance to Oswego — De- 
feat of Braddock — Expedition to Psiagara abandoned — Shir- 
ley appointed ccmmander-in-chief — His noilitary projects — ■ 
His recall — Loudoun appointed commander-in-chief — Arbi- 
trary laws passed by parliament — Capture of Oswego by 
Montcalm — The provincial forces disbanded — Campaign of 
1757 — Loudoun's unsuccessful expedition to Louisburg — 
Fort William Henry captured by Montcalm — Extraordinary 
panic in the provinces — Lnbecile conduct of Loudoun — His 
quarrel with Massachusetts — Submission of the general 
court — Popularity of Governor Pownall — Campaign of 1768 
— Pitt's vigorous and popular measures — Abercrombie ap- 
pointed commander-in-chief — Embarks on Lake George — 
Advance against Ticonderoga — Skirmish and death of Lord 
. Howe — Defeat of Abercrombie. 

While Lawrence, Monckton, and Winslow 
were engaged in the reduction of Acadia, John- 
son was collecting his troops at Albany, for tile 
expedition against Crown Point. This enter- 
prise was one of especial importance to Massa- 
chusetts, who had furnished a considerable num- 
ber of the troops engaged in it, and the security 
of whose western frontier was thought to de- 
pend upon its success. 

Leaving Major-General Lyman to construct 
Tort Edward, at the portage between the Hudson 



1755.] DEFEAT OF WILLIAMS. 181 

and the head waters of the Sorel, Johnson, 
with three thousand four hundred men, crossed 
to the southern shore of Lake George, and there 
encamped. 

In the mean time, the squadron in which Dies- 
kau embarked from France, having escaped the 
English fleet off New Foundland, with the loss 
of two vessels, finally reached Quebec. Dieskau 
was immediately despatched to Crown Point; 
from whence, at the head of twelve hundred 
Indians and Canadians, he advanced to attack 
Fort Edward. 

Having been apprized of Dieskau's approach, 
Johnson sent forward from his camp at Lake 
George, Colonel Ephraim Williams, a Massa- 
chusetts ofiicer, with a thousand provincials and 
Indians to relieve the fort. Unconscious of the 
proximity of the enemy, Williams, while march- 
ing carelessly along, fell into an ambush within 
three miles of the camp he had so lately quitted. 
After a brief but desperate engagement, the 
detachment was compelled to retreat toward 
Lake George, closely followed by the victorious 
Dieskau. Among the killed was Williams, who 
in anticipation of such an issue, had made his 
will while passing through Albany, by which he 
bequeathed a sum of money to found the college 
at Williamstown, Massachusetts, which still 
bears his name. 

Warned by the sound of approaching mus- 

16 



182 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1755. 

kctry, the troops at the camp hastily drew up 
from the Lake shore two or throe field pieces, and 
threw across their front a slight hreastwork of 
felled timber. The design of Dieskau had been 
to follow close upon the fugitives, rush suddenly 
upon the camp, and by combining his forces 
upon one point, to break the line of defence. 
But the Indians and Canadians, habituated to a 
diiferent kind of warfare, turned oif into a thicket 
of trees upon a rising ground within gunshot of 
the English lines, from whence they opened 
their customary irregular fire. Notwithstanding 
this defection, Dieskau boldly advanced with his 
regulars only, and made a gallant attempt to 
force the centre of the lines ; but being received 
by a tremendous discharge of musketry, and 
by the fire of the field-pieces, he was compelled 
to ftill back. For five hours the action was ob- 
stinately contested- on both sides; but the French 
regulars, not being sustained by their allies, 
began at length to show signs of faltering. No 
sooner were these indications discovered, than 
the Americans broke through their slight breast- 
works and drove the enemy from their cover. 

The loss of the provincials in this well-fought 
battle, amounted, in killed and wounded, to three 
hundred men. Johnson being slightly injm'ed 
early in the action, the chief command devolved 
upon General Lyman. The brave Dieskau, 
though wounded in three places, still struggled 



1755.] DEFEAT OF BRADDOCK. 183 

to retrieve the fortune of the day. One by one 
his gallant regulars were struck down, yet he 
still maintained the fight. Growing faint from 
loss of blood, he seated himself on the stump of 
a tree, heedless of the balls that whistled around 
him. When his troops were routed, he ordered 
his attendants to place his military dress beside 
him, and dismissed them. In this position he 
was discovered by one of the pursuers, a French 
renegade, who fired at and mortally wounded 
him. 

In the mean time, Shirley, with his own and 
Pepperell's regiment, lately enlisted in New 
England, marched, in June, from Albany to 
Oswego, from whence he proposed to embark for 
Niagara, at that time an insignificant military 
station, garrisoned by about thirty French regu- 
lars. After capturing the post, he was to re- 
main there until joined by General Braddock, 
then on his way to reduce Fort Duquesne. But 
while Shirley was engaged in constructing boats 
for his conveyance up the lake, news arrived of 
the defeat and death of Braddock. That brave, 
but rash and inconsiderate commander, disdain- 
ing the advice of Washington and other provin- 
cial officers, had fallen into an ambush, by which 
his regulars, after being terribly cut up by the 
fire of an unseen enemy, were compelled to re- 
treat in disorder. Braddock himself, mortally 
wounded, was carried in the arms of his men to 



184 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1755. 

the vicinity of Fort Necessity, where he died 
four days after the battle. 

These sad tidings disheartened the troops 
under Shirley, who were already broken down 
by sickness and the difficulties of the route. 
Delayed by severe storms, and straightened by 
a scarcity of provisions, Shirley, leaving behind, 
in the fort he had constructed at Oswego, a 
garrison of seven hundred men, finally conclud- 
ed to abandon the expedition, and return to 
Albany. At this place he was met by a com- 
mission creating him "commander-in-chief of 
all his majesty's forces in the American 
colonies." 

KnoAving little of the art of war, yet possess- 
ing great ambition and indefatigable industry, 
Shirley immediately began to project plans for 
future victories. In December, during a con- 
gress of governors at New York, he concocted 
an imposing campaign for the following year. 
One of the objects at which he aimed was to 
drive the French from the region of the lakes. 
Returning to Boston, he requested the assembly 
to co-operate with money and troops. Dissatis- 
fied with some of the results of the last cam- 
paign, they hesitated to involve the province in 
any further expense. An increase of debt 
would ruin them, they said, and " they hoped 
his majesty would graciously afford a sufiicient 
force" to oppose their powerful enemy. Being 



175G.] ARBITRARY ACTS OF PARLIAMENT. 185 

Still pressed, tliey pleaded their inability to 
borrow the sum required, on account of the low- 
ness of their credit. To obviate this objetcion, 
Shirley offered to lend them thirty thousand 
pounds out of the moneys remitted for the sup- 
port of the king's troops, provided they would 
agree to repay the loan from an expected parlia- 
mentary grant to the colonies. To these con- 
ditions the assembly finally consented, and re- 
solved to raise three thousand troops. But 
the grant, which arrived soon after, was scarcely 
sufficient to reimburse the amount of the loan. 

In June, 1756, and in the midst of his prepa- 
rations for the approaching campaign, Shirley 
was recalled to England, for the purpose "of 
being consulted upon measures for carrying out 
the war." The Earl of Loudoun, to whom the 
governorship of Virginia was also given, was 
appointed to succeed him in the command of 
the army. 

With the design of restricting the indepen- 
dence of the colonial assemblies, and subordi- 
nating them to a military rule, acts of parlia- 
ment had been passed for quartering the troops 
in private houses, and degrading the provincial 
officers to a position below that of those com- 
missioned by the crown. The promulgation of 
these arbitrary laws roused a feeling of intense 
indignation throughout the colonies ; while the 
arrogant manner in which they were sought to 
16* 



186 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1756. 

be enforced, tended greatly to weaken the 
affection of the Americans for the mother 
country. 

Notwithstanding the flattering manner in 
which he had been superseded in his military 
command, Shirley was disappointed and morti- 
fied. The loss of his government of Massachu- 
setts, which devolved upon Lieutenant-governor 
Phipps until a successor was appointed, cha- 
grined him still more. To add to his anxiety, 
just before his departure to England, the di- 
sastrous intelligence arrived that the Marquis of 
Montcalm, who had succeeded Dieskau in com- 
mand of the French forces, had suddenly ap- 
peared before Oswego and captured its augmented 
garrison of fifteen hundred men, together with 
its stores and munitions of war, and the ship- 
ping in the harbour. 

AVhen this bold achievement took place, the 
main body of the forces under Loudoun, after 
remaining for more than a month inactive at 
Albany, was on the march to Ticonderoga. 
General Webb with the advance, in a futile ef- 
fort to relieve Oswego, had reached the Oneida 
portage. Loudoun himself had been at Albany 
for two weeks. The destruction of Oswego 
caused Webb to fall back precipitately. The 
main army was recalled by Loudoun ; offensive 
operations were abandoned ; and, after reinforcing 
Forts Edward and William, the provincials were 



1757.] rOWNALL APPOINTED GOVERNOR. 187 

dismissed, and the regulars ordered into winter 
quarters. 

Such was the disastrous close of the campaign 
of 1750. To assist in the campaign of 1757, 
a congress of governors, held at Boston, in 
January, agreed to raise four thousand men, 
whom Loudoun, greatly to the relief of the pro- 
vinces, offered to arm, equip, and victual. The 
principal part of the troops thus brought into 
action was posted at Forts William Henry and 
Edward. With the regulars thus relieved, and 
a British squadron under Admiral Holland, Lou- 
doun undertook the reduction of Louisburg. 
While he was wasting his time in drilling his 
troops and planting cabbages at Halifax, the ar- 
rival of a French fleet rendered the success of 
an attack doubtful, and he finally concluded to 
return to New York. The tidings which met him 
on his way were of the most momentous cha- 
racter. 

Thomas Pownall, appointed to succeed Shirley 
in the government of Massachusetts, reached 
the province in August. Owing to the decease 
of Phipps, the administration for four months 
previous had been in the hands of the council. 
Scarcely had Pownall entered upon the duties 
of his ofiice, before an express arrived from Fort 
Edward with the alarming news of a French in- 
vasion. Notwitlistanding some doubts as to the 
constitutionality of the measure, Pownull imme- 



188 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1757. 

diately issued orders for the militia to be in 
readiness to march at a minute's notice to the 
relief of the forts on Lake George. Bj a fur- 
ther stretch of his authority, he appointed Sir 
William Pepperell, who had been knighted for 
the conquest of Port Royal, to the command of 
the Massachusetts forces, with the new title of 
lieutenant-general. 

Intelligence of the fall of Fort William Henry 
reached Boston soon after. Ascending Lake 
George with a force of some five thousand regu- 
lars, Canadians and Indians, the energetic 
Montcalm, after an obstinate resistance on the 
part of the garrison, had compelled Monroe, the 
English commander, to capitulate on terms. The 
conditions of surrender were, that the garrison 
should be allowed to march out with the honours 
of war, and that they should be conducted to 
Fort Edward, some twelve miles distant, under 
the protection of a French escort sufficiently 
strong to secure them from the fury of the sa- 
vages. These terms Montcalm honourably at- 
tempted to fulfil, but no efi'ort on the part of 
himself or his officers could restrain the ferocity 
of his Indian allies. Excited by liquor, they 
sprang upon the English captives, and though 
Montcalm rushed among the uplifted tomahawks 
and entreated the savages to kill him rather 
than his English prisoners ; and although his 
officers received wounds in defence of those 



1757.] EXTRAORDINARY PANIC. 189 

they attempted to succor, some thirty of the gar- 
rison were slain in this barbarous onslaught, 
while a number of others were hurried off into 
captivity. 

In the mean while, General Webb lay at Fort 
Edward with a force of six thousand men. Al- 
though repeatedly solicited by Sir William John- 
son, the conqueror of Dieskau, to send reinforce- 
ments to Fort William Henry, he timidly vacil- 
lated until the capitulation of the garrison 
rendered assistance no longer of any avail. 
Fearful of his own safety, Webb even hesitated 
whether to abandon his post or remain. 

The alarm which this incursion created 
throughout the neighbouring provinces seems 
almost incredible. Christie, who commanded at 
Albany, wrote to the governor of Massachusetts 
in an agony of terror. "For God's sake," 
said he, " exert yourself to save a province; New 
York itself must fall ; save a country ; prevent 
the downfall of the British government upon 
this continent." 

The danger being thus magnified, Pownall, 
sharing in their fears, ordered the inhabitants 
west of the Connecticut River to destroy their 
wheel carriages, and drive in their cattle. He 
also despatched several regiments of militia to 
reinforce the garrison at Fort Edward ; but 
after reaching the province of New York, they 
were met by a messenger from the imbecile 



190 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1757. 

"VYebb, with the information that their services 
were no longer necessary. Satisfied with the 
terror he had inspired, Montcalm was already 
on his way back to Canada. 

During the prevalence of this panic, the ar- 
rogant and inefficient Loudoun reached New 
York. Unknowing what to do, he hurried from 
one place to another, and wasted the remainder 
of the season in preparations ending in nothing. 
He even, at one time, proposed to encamp on 
Long Island, for the defence of the continent. 

But while he was thus subjecting himself to 
the contemptuous criticism of provincial writers, 
and to the scarcely suppressed disgust of his 
subordinate officers, he was attempting to con- 
trol the colonial assemblies, by threatening to 
exert against them the extraordinary powers 
with which he had been vested by the English 
government. 

The Massachusetts general court had provided 
barracks at the castle, with fire, lights, and bar- 
rack utensils, for such of the British troops as 
might be stationed at Boston. Certain recruit- 
ing officers from Nova Scotia, finding the distance 
inconvenient, requested the justices of peace to 
quarter and billet them in the town, as provided 
for by the British Mutiny Act. The magistrates 
refused, denying that act to be in force in the 
colonies. Loudoun violently espoused the cause 
of his officers and threatened, if necessary, to 



1757.] Pitt's popular measures. 191 

send eight regiments to Boston, to enforce the 
law, unless the demand was complied with within 
forty-eight hours. To avoid this extremity, the 
general court, yielding to the solicitation of 
Pownall, passed a law of their own, embracing 
some of the principal provisions of the Mutiny 
Act, which they still persisted did not in its 
terms extend to the colonies. 

Pownall's course in this affair, leaning, as it 
did, to the side of the colonies, together with 
the general frankness of his manners, tended to 
make him very popular. His administration had 
entirely changed the politics of Massachusetts. 
Hutchinson was presently appointed lieutenant- 
governor; but the most of those who had sup- 
ported Shirley, and encouraged the English 
ministry to rule the province by means of the 
king's prerogative, had gone into opposition. 
Otis, a liberal, was promised a seat on the su- 
preme bench ; while his son, a young lawyer of 
brilliant talents, and subsequently so well known 
as the most ardent defender of the cause of 
popular liberty, was appointed advocate of the 
Admiralty. 

William Pitt was now at the head of the Eng- 
lish ministry. Attributing the success of the 
French on the colonial frontiers to the unskil- 
fulness of the British commanders, in connection 
with the desultory efforts of the colonies, he 
rejected the policy of his predecessors, and 



192 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1758. 

planned the conquest of Canada by aiding the 
patriotism of the provinces with the resources 
of the government. Striking effectually at one 
fruitful source of dissatisfaction, he obtained, 
in December, 1757, the king's order that every 
provincial officer of no higher rank than colonel 
should have equal command "with the British. 
For the campaign of 1758 he called upon the 
governors for a levy of twenty thousand men, 
to be furnished with arms, ammunition, tents, and 
provisions at the charge of the crown. The 
expense of levying, paying, and clothing the 
men was required to be met by the colonies ; 
but even this sum he promised should be reim- 
bursed by parliament. 

Loudoun, at this time engaged in a quarrel 
with the general court, was recalled, Abercrombie 
having been commissioned to succeed him as 
commander-in-chief. Pitt's requisition was re- 
sponded to with alacrity. Massachusetts voted 
to raise seven thousand men, to which were 
added some three thousand from the northern 
province. 

On the 5th of July, while Wolfe and Bos- 
cawen were besieging Louisburg, and General 
Forbes was slowly preparing to march against 
Fort Duquesne, nine thousand of the provincials, 
having formed a junction with seven thousand 
regulars, Abercrombie embarked on the placid 
waters of Lake George, and with banners 



1758.] DEATH OF HOWE. 193 

"Waving in the wind, and to the sound of spirit- 
stirring music, this vast flotilla sailed down the 
lake to attack Ticonderoga. At nine o'clock 
the next morning the troops disembarked in a 
sheltered cove on the west side of the lake, and 
soon after took up their line of march through a 
dense wood, covering grounds uneven and rough. 
Over this rugged and intricate route, seven thou- 
sand regulars and provincials, led by inexpe- 
rienced guides, marched in a disorderly manner 
toward the fort. In the midst of this confusion, the 
right centre, under Lord Howe, second in com- 
mand to Abercrombie, and an officer on whose 
skill the confidence of the army mainly reposed, 
suddenly encountered a detachment of the ene- 
my, not exceeding three hundred strong. After 
a sharp skirmish the French were routed ; a 
large number being killed, and one hundred and 
forty-eight taken prisoners. But this trifling 
victory was dearly bought. Lord Howe, fore- 
most in the fight, had been the first to fall. 
Sincerely lamented by his fellow-soldiers, his 
death was not less mourned by the colonies. 
Massachusetts testified her respect for his me- 
mory, by voting him a monument in Westminster 
Abbey. 

After passing the night in the forest, Aber- 
crombie ordered a return to the landing-place. 
A new route had been opened by the energy of 
Bradstreet, an active provincial officer, who, 

17 



194 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1758. 

with a strong detachment, had rebuilt the 
bridges which spanned the curving stream form- 
ing the outlet to Lake George, and had taken 
possession of a sawmill about one mile and a 
half distant from the works at Ticonderoga. 

After reconnoitering the position of Mont- 
calm, Clerk, the chief engineer of Abercrombie, 
returned early on the morning of the eighth of 
July, and reported their lines practicable. Aber- 
crombie, without halting for his artillery to come 
up, at once determined to advance, and carry 
the breastworks by storm. 

Montcalm, in the mean time, had not been idle. 
When the approach of the English was first re- 
ported, he called in all his outposts, and with 
the troops thus concentrated, amounting in all 
to about thirty-five hundred men, he endeavoured 
assiduously to fortify his position as strongly as 
the limited time would permit. Labouring in 
common with his officers and men, he succeeded, 
by dint of extraordinary energy, in entrenching 
his camp in front of the fort, and by the morn- 
ing of the eighth had nearly completed a for- 
midable line of defence. His principal protec- 
tion consisted in a breastwork of logs, some 
nine feet in height, the ground before which was 
encumbered by trees felled with their branches 
pointing outward, and by stumps and rubbish of 
all sorts, the whole being interwoven so thick as 
to afford an excellent barrier against all assail- 



1758.] DEFEAT OF ABERCROMBIE. 195 

ants. Rejecting the advantage afforded him by 
Mount Defiance, which being in his possession, 
and commanding the lines of the French, 
would, by the use of a few pieces of artillery, 
have rendered them speedily untenable, and 
equally ignorant that the fortifications on 
his left were unfinished, Abercrombie made his 
disposition to storm the formidable defence in 
front. 

The British regulars, formed in three columns 
in rear of the provincials, were accordingly or- 
dered to advance and carry the breastworks. 
The troops of Montcalm, obedient to the com- 
mand of their sagacious leader, remained silent, 
without fii'ing a single gun, until the storming 
party was entangled among the many obstacles 
by which their progress was impeded. At 
length, as they struggled toward the trenches, 
the word was given, and an incessant and deadly 
fire was immediately opened upon the assailants, 
which swept ofi" oflficers and men by hundreds. 
For three hours the English regulars contended 
with rash but heroic courage against impedfments 
of the most formidable character ; but at length, 
being thrown into disorder, they commenced 
firing upon an advancing party of their own. 
The confusion thus created, speedily increased 
to a panic; and after losing, in killed and 
wounded, over two thousand of their number, 
the attack was abandoned. Utterly overwhelmed 



196 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1758. 

by his shameful failure, Abercrombie hurried his 
troops to the landing-place, the same evening, 
with such precipitation that it required the exer- 
cise of great activity and determination, on the 
part of Bradstreet, to prevent them from rush- 
ing in confusion into the boats. Early the next 
morning, the whole army re-embarked, and re- 
turned up the lake, leaving provisions, entrench- 
ing tools, and other valuable stores in the hands 
of the enemy. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Surprise of Fort Frontenac by Bradstreet — Capture of Louis- 
burg — Washington takes possession of Fort Duquesne — 
Campaign of 1759 — Exertions of Pitt — Response of Massa- 
chusetts — Fort Niagara invested by Prideaux — His death — 
Defeat of the French and capture of Fort Niagara by Sir 
WilUam Johnson — Desertion of Ticonderoga — Of Crown 
Point — Quebec invested by Wolfe — Battle of the Plains of 
Abraham — Wolfe and Montcalm mortally wounded — Sur- 
render of Quebec — Movements of Amherst — Governor Ber- 
nard — His speech to the Massachusetts legislature — Respon- 
ses of the council and the house of representatives — Illegal 
conduct of the revenue officers — -Writs of assistance — Hutch- 
inson appointed chief justice — James Otis — Opposition to 
the writs of assistance — Argument on behalf of their legality — 
The case argued — Speech of Oxenbridge Thatcher — Of James 
Otis the younger — Its effect upon the people — Unconstitu- 
tional act of Bernard — Its denunciation by Otis — Public 
avowal of his principles. 

Notwithstanding the mortification which at- 
tended the defeat before Ticonderoga, the sue- 



1758.] CAPTURE OF FORT FRONTENAC. 197 

cess of the other expeditions relieved Pitt from 
the charge of rashness, and amply justified the 
bold and vigorous measures he had so strenuously 
advocated. 

The army of Abercrombie returned gloomy and 
dispirited to Fort William Henry. At this place 
the energetic Bradstreet projected the surprise 
of Fort Frontenac, on the northern shore of 
Lake Ontario. Having, at length, received a 
reluctant permission to make the attempt, he 
placed himself at the head of three thousand 
men, mostly provincials, seven hundred of whom 
were from Massachusetts, and, by marching with 
great celerity, suddenly appeared before the 
astonished garrison, on the 26th day of August. 
The next day the fort was surrendered. Nine 
armed vessels, and a large quantity of valuable 
stores, fell into the hands of the victors. After 
ravaging the fortress, and destroying seven of 
the vessels, together with such stores as could 
not be brought off, Bradstreet returned to Al- 
bany, having by this brilliant exploit gained the 
command of Lake Ontario, and facilitated the 
reduction of Fort Duquesne. 

During the progress of the disastrous expe- 
dition against Ticonderoga, General Amherst, 
in conjunction with the fleet under Boscawen, 
was engaged in the siege of Louisburg. The 
French ships of war in the harbour having 
been destroyed or taken, the garrison, to the 

17* 



198 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1758. 

number of five thousand men, capitulated on the 
27th of July. By the capture of this strong 
fortress, Cape Breton, Prince Edward's Island, 
and the whole of the French territory on our 
eastern coast passed into the hands of Great 
Britain. 

In the west, General Forbes was equally for- 
tunate, though his success was attributable less 
to his own energy as a commander, than to the 
destruction of Fort Frontenac by Bradstreet. 
By that bold achievement, the garrison at Fort 
Duquesne, deprived of their customary supplies, 
and deserted, in consequence, by most of the 
Indians on whose support they relied, set fire to 
the w^orks on the approach of the English, and 
hastily retreated down the river. Washington, 
with a detachment of provincials, forming the 
advance guard to the main army, took possession 
of the fort on the 25th of November, while 
its timbers were still burning. 

The results obtained during the campaign of 
1758, justified the opinion that an equally vigor- 
ous prosecution of the war during the following 
year would succeed in wresting Canada from 
the dominion of France. The colonies, eager 
to improve the advantages already obtained, 
readily responded to the call of Pitt for addi- 
tional levies. Massachusetts, though greatly 
weakened by previous efi'orts, called into ser- 
vice seven thousand men. Of these, twenty-five 



1759.] CAPTURE OF FORT NIAGARA. 199 

hundred were stationed in garrison at Louisburg. 
Several hundred joined the expedition of Wolfe 
against Quebec, while the remainder marche"?l 
to reinforce Amherst, who, having been appoint- 
ed commander-in-chief, was about to attempt the 
reduction of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. 

In the midst of preparations for these im- 
portant enterprises, General Prideaux marched 
against the French fort at Niagara. On the 
sixth of July he invested it in form. Being 
killed shortly after, by the bursting of a cohorn, 
the command devolved upon Sir William John- 
son. On the 24th of July, 1759, Johnson de- 
feated a French detachment, twelve hundred 
strong, which had hastened to the relief of the 
garrison. The next day the fort was surrendered. 
The possession of Niagara and Duquesne led to 
the abandonment, by the French, of the western 
posts of Erie, Le Boeuf, and Venango. 

Three days before the capture of Fort Niagara, 
the flotilla of Amherst, having on board eleven 
thousand regulars and provincials, descended 
Lake George, and on the 22d of July the troops 
were disembarked on the shore of the outlet op- 
posite to where Abercrombie had landed the 
season before. The French being defeated, 
the same evening, Bourlamarque, the command- 
ant, set fire to the fort at Ticonderoga, and 
retreated to Crown Point. Two weeks after- 
ward he abandoned Crown Point also, and re- 



200 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1759. 

tired to Isle-aux-Noix. Taking possession of the 
deserted works, Amherst employed his troops 
dliring the remainder of the campaign in 
strengthening the fortifications, and preparing 
boats for a descent on Montreal. 

Leaving Louisburg as early as the season 
•would permit, Wolfe embarked eight thousand 
troops on board a fleet of forty-four sail, com- 
manded by Admiral Saunders, and on the 25th 
of June succeeded in landing the army on the 
Isle of Orleans, a short distance below Quebec. 

For nearly three months the strength of the 
defences, and the vigilance of Montcalm, baffled 
all the efi*orts of the young English comrdander. 
At length, on the 13th of September, Wolfe 
finally succeeded in secretly scaling the Heights 
of Abraham, and drew up five thousand of his 
troops in battle array upon the plains before the 
city. Montcalm immediately advanced and 
opened an attack. After an obstinate and well- 
contested battle, the French gave way. Wolfe, 
twice wounded, expired in the moment of vic- 
tory. The brave Montcalm, also mortally 
wounded while rallying the fugitives near St. 
John's gate, did not survive to witness the sur- 
render of the city he had defended so ably and 
and so long. With the fall of Quebec termi- 
nated, in efiect, the French power in North 
America. 

The English troops being in possession of all 



1760.] BERNARD APPOINTED GOVERNOR. 201 

the military posts in Canada, with the exception 
of Montreal, Amherst proceeded to reduce the 
latter. On the 11th of October, he embarked 
his army in batteaux; but while descending 
Lake Champlain he was compelled by adverse 
winds and foul weather to retrace his course, 
and defer the contemplated attack until the fol- 
lowing spring. On his return to Crown Point, the 
Massachusetts levies, in common with the other 
provincials, were disbanded and sent home. The 
regulars went into winter quarters. 

In February, 1760, Francis Bernard was ad- 
vanced from the government of New Jersey to 
supersede Pownall in that of Massachusetts. 
Bernard did not, however, assume the duties of 
his new office until late in the summer ; and, in 
the mean time, the administration devolved upon 
Lieutenant-governor Hutchinson. Montreal ca- 
pitulating to the English forces in the early part 
of this year, the conquest of Canada was com- 
pleted. 

The independent spirit by which the Massachu- 
setts people were animated, evinced itself al- 
most immediately after the arrival of Bernard 
in the province. During the month of Septem- 
ber, while congratulating the legislature on the 
reduction of Montreal, he took occasion to re- 
mind them of " the blessings they derived from 
their subjection to Great Britain." The council, 
in reply, coldly acknowledged a "beneficial re- 



202 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1760. 

lation" to the mother country; while the house 
of delegates retorted with sturdy significance 
that " the whole world must be sensible of the 
blessings derived to Great Britain from the 
loyalty of the colonies in general, and from the 
efforts of this province in particular, which, for 
more than a century past, has been wading in 
blood, and laden with the expenses of repelling 
the common enemy, without which efforts Great 
Britain, at this day, might have had no colonies 
to defend." 

If these responses manifested a determination 
to maintain the importance and proper inde- 
pendence of the colony, the events which oc- 
curred soon after made that determination still 
more apparent. For some years past the col- 
lectors and subordinate officers of customs had 
been in the habit of forcibly entering ware- 
houses, and even private dwellings, upon suspi- 
cion that they contained contraband goods. 
Justly incensed at such an unlawful assumption 
of authority, several persons commenced legal 
actions against the revenue officers, for entries 
forcibly made. Shirley, during his chief magis- 
tracy, had attempted to give colour to these in- 
trusions by the issue of warrants for the purpose. 
It having been proven that these warrants were 
worthless, Shirley next advised the custom-house 
officers to apply to the Supreme Court for writs 
of assistance, which, according to the English 



1761.] ACTS OF ASSISTANCE. 203 

exchequer practice, gave authority to the bearer 
to search when and where he pleased for con- 
traband goods, and authorized him, if necessary, 
to summon others to his assistance. But these 
writs, though applied for, had been withheld, 
Stephen Sewall, the chief justice, having doubts 
as to their legality. 

In September, 1760, Sewall died. As the po- 
litical predilections of his successor would ne- 
cessarily have some weight in deciding upon the 
legality of the obnoxious writs of assistance, 
Hutchinson, already lieutenant-governor, coun- 
cillor, and judge of probate, was appointed by 
Bernard to the vacant seat, greatly to the cha- 
grin of James Otis, of Barnstable, a gentleman 
of sound legal attainments, to whom the place 
had been promised by Pownall, and in whose 
favour public opinion had already declared itself. 
Bernard evincing a determination to enforce the 
British Acts of Trade, a strenuous opposition 
arose. Soon after the appointment of Hutch- 
inson, application was again made for writs of 
assistance, to which exception was taken by mer- 
chants of Boston, and a motion made that their 
legality might be argued before the court. 

Accordingly, in February, 1761, Hutchinson 
and his four associate judges assembled to hear 
the arguments on the question. For the crown 
it was urged that a statute of Charles II. al- 
lowed writs of assistance to be issued by the 



204 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1761. 

English Courts of Exchequer; that a similar 
power was given by a colonial law to the colo- 
nial superior court; while a statute of Wil- 
liam III. gave to American revenue officers like 
powers, and a right to like assistance as in Eng- 
land. The refusal of the writ would consequently 
entail the denial of the right of parliament to 
legislate for the colonies. Oxenbridge Thatcher 
and James Otis, the elder, were employed to 
oppose the issue of the writs. 

The younger Otis, being advocate for the 
Admiralty, was bound in that professional ca- 
pacity to maintain the legality of the measure. 
Resigning his office, he accepted the retainer 
proffered him by the merchants ; and, in conjunc- 
tion with his father and Thatcher, opposed the 
legality of the issue. Thatcher spoke first. 
Reasoning on purely legal grounds, he argued 
that the rule of the English courts was not, in 
this particular case, applicable to the colonial. 
The younger Otis next arose, determined, as he 
said, to sacrifice every thing, ''even life itself, 
to the sacred call of his country," "in opposi- 
tion to a kind of power, the exercise of which 
cost one king of England his head, and another 
his crown." 

Taking a bold stand in favour of the rights 
of the colonies, he attacked the Acts of Trade as 
oppressive, and denounced the writs as de- 



1761.] PUBLIC DISCOXTEXT. 205 

structive to the fundamental principles of 
liberty and law. They were illegal, and no act 
of parliament could establish them ; it would be 
a nullity. These arguments were advanced with 
a fiery and impassioned eloquence that stirred 
up the hearts of his hearers. Passing from lip 
to lip, the ardent sentiments of the young ad- 
vocate created an intense political excitement. 
The struggle for independence was already 
begun. 

The writs, however, were granted; yet so 
great was their unpopularity that they were 
seldom used. The public mind brooded over its 
discontent. The odious authority of the Admi- 
ralty court, instituted by a British parliament 
to punish the infringements of the Acts of 
Trade, in America, without the intervention of 
a jury, and the powers of custom-house officers, 
always bought grievous because unconstitution- 
al, seemed now established by judges devoted to 
the prerogative. Innovations under pretence 
of law were confirmed by judgments incompa- 
tible with English liberties. 

A powerful colonial party sprung up. At 
its head were the elder and the younger Otis. 
The latter, elected a representative from Boston, 
became a prominent member of the house of 
which his father was president, and a warm op- 
ponent of Hutchinson and his ministerial friends. 
He even endeavoured to exclude the latter from 

18 



206 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1762. 

the council, by a bill declaring the places of 
chief justice and councillor incompatible with 
each other ; but by the influence of the govern- 
ment the bill was defeated. 

Bernard, by various artifices, sought to win 
the good-will of the elder and younger Otis, 
though he met with but little success. While 
inclining to advance the governor's personal 
interests, they remained faithful to the principles 
they had espoused upon all questions of public 
importance. 

At the opening of the assembly in Septem- 
ber, 1762, Bernard took occasion to inform the 
members that, by the advice of his council, and 
in advance of legislative action, he had ex- 
pended some three or four hundred pounds upon 
a ship and sloop employed to guard the fishing 
vessels from privateers. To this act the house, 
regarding it as unconstitutional, took exception. 
The younger Otis drew up a remonstrance, de- 
nouncing it as an infringement of ''their most 
darling privilege, the right to originate all taxes." 
" It would be of little consequence to the people," 
said he, "whether they were subject to George 
or Louis — the King of Great Britain or the 
French king — if both were arbitrary, as both 
would be if both could levy taxes without parlia- 
ment." A cry of treason was raised. Otis, 
passionate, but not intractable, consented to 
qualify the offensive passage in which the king's 



1763.] TREATY OF FONTAINEBLEAU. 207 

name had been so freely used ; Bernard, how- 
ever, insisted on its complete erasure, and his 
friends were yet sufficiently numerous to prevail. 

Overpowered in the assembly, Otis vindicated 
the justice of his language through a pamphlet, 
which he published at the close of the session, 
and in which the grand principles of the decla- 
ration of independence, — resistance to tyranny, 
the natural equality of mankind, and the ille- 
gality of taxation without representation, — were 
boldly avowed and defended. 

In the mean time George III. had succeeded to 
the throne of Great Britain. No immediate 
change of ministerial policy followed the acces- 
sion of the young king ; but after a little while 
dissension arose in the cabinet, which compelled 
Pitt to resign. He was succeeded by Lord Bute, 
the king's late preceptor. 

In February, 1763, the Treaty of Fontaine- 
bleau was signed. Believed of other cares, the 
English ministry now turned their attention 
toward the colonies, various measures for the 
better control of which they had been maturing 
for the past ten or twelve years. 



208 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1763. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Feud between the regulars and provincials — Good understand- 
ing among the several provinces — Condition of England — 
Financial embarrassments — Project to tax America — Parlia- 
ment asserts the right to tax the colonies — The Stamp Act 
proposed — Colonial agitation — Massachusetts remonstrates 
— Passage of the Stamp Act — Proceedings in Boston — The 
Virginia resolutions — A congress of colonial delegates recom- 
mended — Petition and remonstrances forw^arded to England 
— Riots in Boston — Personal safety of Hutchinson endanger- 
ed — Resignation of the stamp-distributor — Repeal of the 
stamp-tax — Whigs and Tories — Opposition to the revenue 
Laws — Increasing unpopularity of Governor Bernard — 
Townsend's bill for taxing America — Its reception in Boston 
— Message of Bernard to the house of representatives — The 
legislature adjourned — Seizure of the sloop Liberty — Alarm 
of the commissioners of customs — Popular demonstration — 
Public meeting called — The house of representatives dissolved 
— Arrival of troops — Convention of provincial delegates at 
Faneuil Hall. 

DuRiNa the prevalence of the various inter- 
colonial wars, the provincial levies, upon whom 
the severer and more dangerous duties of the 
service frequently devolved, had borne with feel- 
ings of ill-suppressed indignation the display of 
superiority assumed by the British officers. The 
feud, thus engendered, was not wholly suppress- 
ed even by the conciliatory conduct of Pitt. A 
rivalry in arms had sprung up. A long conti- 
nuance of hostilities had inspired many of the 



1763.] CONDITION OF ENGLAND. 209 

colonists with a natural ardour which increased 
as they became familiarized to arms and the 
usages of war. By the intermixture, also, of 
troops from different provinces, local prejudices 
had been removed, the strength and resources 
of the colonies made more apparent to one an- 
other, and the idea of union, in a common cause, 
diffused among the people. 

Upon colonies thus conscious of their power, 
full of trained soldiers and accustomed to politi- 
cal independence, the British ministry prepared 
to exercise a restrictive policy. The expenses of 
the various wars in which England had been en- 
gaged, from the time when William of Orange 
ascended the throne to the late conquest of Ca- 
nada, had accumulated a national debt of seven 
hundred millions of dollars. The great increase 
of territory acquired by the peace of Fontaine- 
bleau was but a poor compensation for the 
financial distress into which the country was 
plunged by the expenses of the war. Some 
portion of this enormous outlay being justly 
chargeable to the defence of the American colo- 
nies, the ministry sought a partial relief in the 
future by endeavouring to draw from the pro- 
vinces a revenue sufficient to defray the cost of 
their support and protection. 

They attempted to accomplish this desirable 
result through the action of parliament, whose 
right to control the colonies was at that time 

18* 



210 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1764. 

reluctantly acknowledged by many of the most 
prominent men in America. If the revenue 
they required could be obtained in this way, it 
was easily foreseen that the independence of the 
provincial assemblies would be henceforth re- 
stricted, and the royal prerogative considerably 
enlarged. 

Out of the revenue thus raised, it was proposed 
to support ten thousand regular troops in Ame- 
rica as a peace establishment. A scheme for 
parliamentary taxation had been originated 
early in the commencement of the late war. 
Though laid aside at that time by the pressure 
of other duties, it was now revived by the new 
ministry, at the head of which was George Gren- 
ville, formerly President of the Board of Trade. 
Already, by the passage of laws professedly for 
the regulation of trade and commerce, parlia- 
ment exercised a dubious authority over the co- 
lonies. These laws, though strenuously opposed 
at first, especially by the people of New Eng- 
land, had at length been reluctantly submitted to 
by some, and were as systematically evaded by 
others. Having thus opened the way for more 
serious exactions, the House of Commons, in 
March, 1764, at the recommendation of Gren- 
ville, resolved, " that parliament had a right to 
tax the colonies," and advised a bill imposing a 
duty on stamps, by which a great variety of le- 
gal papers, to be valid in courts of law, were to 



1765.] STAMP ACT PASSED. 211 

be written on stamped paper, sold by public 
officers appointed for that purpose, and at 
prices which included a stated tax on every such 
document. 

Immediately on receiving intelligence of the 
passage of this resolution, the colonies became 
agitated by mingled feelings of alarm and indig- 
nation. Leading the opposition, Massachusetts 
forwarded to London a remonstrance and pe- 
tition. While acknowledging subordination to 
Great Britain, she firmly, but respectfully, pro- 
tested against the proposed measure, and de- 
clared that, by submitting to taxation without 
representation, the people would be reduced from 
free subjects to " the miserable condition of 
tributary slaves." 

Similar petitions and remonstrances flowed in 
from other colonies. In spite of these, however, 
the obnoxious bill was passed through parlia- 
ment. On the 22d of March, 1765, the Stamp 
Act was imposed. 

The ominous tidings of its passage was re- 
ceived in Boston with every token of intense in- 
dignation. Amid the muffled tolling of bells, 
the flags of the vessels in port were hung at half- 
mast ; the 'act itself, bearing the impress of a 
death's head in lieu of the royal arms, was cried 
about the streets under the title of " England's 
Folly and the Buin of America." The news- 
papers were filled with articles in opposition. 



212 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1765. 

The *' Constitutional Courant'' appeared with a 
neTV and significant head-piece, representing the 
divided portions of a siiake, marked with the 
initial letters of the thirteen colonies, above 
which was the motto, "Join, or die." 

The assembly of Virginia being in session 
when the intelligence arrived in that province, 
was the first to act in the emergency. A series 
of resolutions were passed, drawn up by Patrick 
Henry, in language so bold and spirited that the 
government party did not hesitate to call it trea- 
sonable. Before these resolutions reached Bos- 
ton, the general court had convened and ap- 
pointed a committee to consider the proper 
course to be pursued under the existing circum- 
stances. By this body, a congress of delegates 
from the several colonial legislatures was recom- 
mended to meet in New York. Bernard, and 
the friends of government, not venturing to 
withhold their support from this proposition, it 
was adopted. 

Accordingly, in October, deputies from nine 
colonies met in convention at the city of New 
York, and agreed upon a solemn declaration of 
rights, in which they claimed exemption from all 
taxes except those levied by their, respective 
legislatures. Petitions to the king, and to the 
House of Commons, and a memorial to the 
House of Lords, were also unanimously adopted. 
Bespectful and afi'ectionate, yet firm and manly 



1766.] OUTBREAKS IN BOSTON. 213 

in their tone, these documents pointed out, 
with great force and perspicacity, the grievances, 
and explained the rights and privileges of the 
colonies, humbly praying that the former might 
be redressed and the latter respected. 

But the indignation of the provincials against 
the Stamp Act was not confined to legitimate and 
legislative action. In Boston, formidable out- 
breaks occurred. Prominent friends of the 
ministry were hung in effigy. The house of the 
lieutenant-governor was mobbed, and Hutchinson 
himself obliged to fly for his life. Oliver, who 
had been appointed stamp-distributor for the 
province, was frightened into resigning his office. 
Though the actors in these scenes of open vio- 
lence were well known, they were secured from 
punishment by the tacit approbation with which 
their course was regarded by the people. 

In other colonies, riots also became frequent; 
the stamp-distributors were everywhere com- 
pelled to resign, and all attempts to carry the 
obnoxious law into effect proved utterly useless. 

In the mean time, by a change in the English 
ministry, the Rockingham party had come into 
power. Ostensibly more liberal than their pre- 
decessors, and finding the stamp-tax wholly 
inoperative, the new ministry procured its re- 
peal at the parliamentary session of 1766. 

With singular inconsistency, a bill was passed 
at the same time, claiming the right of parlia- 



214 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1766. 

ment to enact measures to secure the dependency 
of the colonies, " in all cases whatsoever," and 
declaring that the exclusive privilege of levying 
taxes, as contended for by their respective le- 
gislatures, was derogatory to and incompatible 
with the authority of the crown. 

This declaration the colonists regarded as 
merely adopted to soften the chagrin of those 
who now unwillingly submitted to a withdrawal 
of the stamp- tax. It did not, therefore, inter- 
fere with the general joy which their signal 
triumph had elicited. But though the extreme 
agitation of the great body of the people through- 
out the colonies subsided with the abrogation of 
a measure so dangerous to their liberties, the 
two great parties of Tories and Whigs, the one 
supporting the royal prerogative, and the other 
defending the popular independence, still main- 
tained their respective organizations. Occasions 
were not wanting to enlarge and deepen the 
breach. 

In several instances wherein goods were for- 
feited for having been smuggled into Boston 
contrary to the provisions of one of the Acts for 
the regulation of trade, the sympathy of the 
citizens had been strongly excited in favour of the 
losers, and no slight degree of indignation was 
vented against the astringent regulation and its 
parliamentary framers. The overbearing con- 
duct also of Bernard, in endeavouring to force 



k 



1767.] DUTIES ON TEA, ETC. 215 

the house of representatives to elect as coun- 
cillors only such persons as he approved, con- 
tributed greatly to keep alive party differences, 
and to augment the strength of the Whigs. 

The principal act of the general court at the 
session of 17G6, was a somewhat singular one, 
yet, by an examination of the circumstances, 
easily to be understood. Avowing their disap- 
proval pf the late riotous proceedings, they 
passed a bill granting an equivalent in money to 
those persons whose property had been injured 
or destroyed during the disturbances. At the 
same time, and in the same bill, as a manifesta- 
tion of their determination to resist all such 
measures as that which had lately elicited the 
anger of the people, they granted a free pardon 
and indemnity for losses sustained by arrests, 
imprisonments, or other legal steps taken against 
them, to all concerned in the riots. 

The session of 1767 presented nothing of 
marked historical importance. The quarrel with 
Bernard was renewed, and commissioners ap- 
pointed to adjust the boundaries between Massa- 
chusetts and New York. 

Soon after the adjournment, intelligence was 
received that Townsend, who had succeeded 
Grenville as chancellor of the exchequer, had 
procured the passage of a bill imposing certain 
duties on tea, paper, glass, and painters' colours, 
imported into America. 



216 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1768. 

Justly regarding tins act as another attempt 
to encroach upon their rights, the colonies im- 
mediately resumed their measures of resistance. 
At a town meeting, held soon after in Boston, 
it was resolved to suspend further importation 
of British goods until the offensive duties were 
removed. Suhscriptions were also opened, at 
the same time, to encom*age the establishment 
of manufactories in the provinces. Propositions 
of a character similar to those promoted by 
Massachusetts wore adopted by the other colo- 
nies ; while resolutions, petitions, and remon- 
strances, contending that, when designed for 
revenue purposes, internal and external taxation 
were identical in principle, were despatched to 
England from all parts of America. 

In Massachusetts, the dissatisfaction with 
Bernard continued to increase. Early in 1768, 
he laid before the house of representatives, 
then in session, a letter from Shelburne, one of 
the secretaries of state, severely condemning 
their conduct on various recent occasions in 
opposing the wishes of the governor. The house 
was immediately in an uproar. The strictures 
contained in the letter were founded, they said, 
on misrepresentations of facts, communicated by 
Bernard in his despatches to the English secre- 
tary. Copies of Shelburne's letter, as well as 
Bernard's despatches, being denied to their re- 
quest, a committee was appointed to prepare a 



1768.] SEIZURE OF THE <' LIBERTY." 217 

vindication of their proceedings to the ministry. 
At length, after considerable time was spent in 
crimination and recrimination, Bernard ad- 
journed the legislature by a violent and insulting 
message, of which however no notice was taken. 
Though no important public business was done 
during the session, committees of the house had 
privately prepared and forwarded to the other 
provincial assemblies, a circular proposing a 
common union between the colonies, to take 
cifective and constitutional steps toward pre- 
venting the execution and procuring the repeal 
of the late impost Act. 

In May, tlie house agjiin met for the election 
of councillors. While yet in session, a serious 
outbreak occurred. The sloop Liberty, owned 
by John Hancock, a young merchant of Boston, 
and an ardent Whig, was seized by the revenue 
commissioners for not having entered her full 
cargo, which, besides the articles belonging to 
her owner, was composed of Madeira wine, then 
subject to a considerable impost tax. The popu- 
larity of Mr. Hancock, together with the general 
dislike of parliamentary taxation, caused this 
seizure to be regarded with odium, and threats 
of a rescue were made by the people assembled 
on the wharf. Alarmed by these demonstrations, 
the commissioners of customs were induced to 
place the captured vessel under protection of 
19- 



218 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1768. 

the Romney man-of-war, then lying in the 
harbour. 

Entertaining a doubt as to the legality of the 
seizure, and enraged that the sloop should be 
placed under the protection of a vessel, on board 
of which were several seamen who had been 
forcibly taken from colonial ships in port by a 
press-gang but a few days previous, the crowd 
turned upon the obnoxious commissioners, pelted 
them home with stones, and broke in the windows 
of their dwellings. More legitimate measures 
were taken, soon after, in the call of a public 
meeting, at which a remonstrance was prepared 
and sent to the governor, who was desired to 
order the Romney from the harbour. Though 
declining to do this, Bernard, in his answer, 
either through fear or a sense of justice, did not 
seem to regard the proceedings of the people as 
altogether unwarrantable. 

In the midst of the excitement thus occasioned, 
the governor, in pursuance of his instructions 
from Lord Hillsborough, lately appointed to the 
new office of secretary of state for the colonial 
department, required the house of representa- 
tives to rescind the resolution which had led to 
their circular letter to the colonies, and to de- 
clare their " disapprobation of so rash and hasty 
a proceeding." But conscious of the propriety 
of their course, and sustained by the concurrence 
of nine colonies in the measures proposed, the 



1768.] MILITARY AID REQUIRED. 219 

members, by a vote of ninety-two to seventeen, 
refused to obey the requisition. In obedience 
to the peremptory orders of Hillsborough, Ber- 
nard immediately declared the assembly dissolved, 
and stated that, without permission from the 
king, he would not feel at liberty to convene it 
again. 

The indignation of the people now rose to 
such a height, that the governor became alarmed 
for his personal safety. The commissioners of 
customs, regarding themselves also in jeopardy, 
solicited a regular military force for their protec- 
tion. Accordingly, in July, General Gage received 
orders to remove two regiments from Halifax 
to Boston, and soon afterward a like number 
sailed from Ireland, having the same destination. 

Nothing was known of this movement in Bos- 
ton until the arrival of an officer to provide 
quarters for the Halifax regiments. A town 
meeting was immediately called, and Bernard 
requested to assemble the legislature. This he 
peremptorily refused to do until he had received 
permission from abroad. Spirited resolutions 
were then adopted in the meeting, declaring that 
the maintenance of troops in the town, against 
the wishes of the inhabitants, and in a time of 
peace, was an infringement of their rights, and 
a grievance of the most alarming nature. In- 
structions were likewise given to the selectmen 
of the town, desiring them to write to all the 



220 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1768. 

othgr towns in the colony, embodying a request 
that they would respectively appoint delegates 
to a convention, to meet at Faneuil Hall in 
Boston, on the twenty-second of September. In 
conclusion, it was resolved, that as a war with 
France might be apprehended, such inhabitants 
of the province as were unprovided, be requested 
"to supply themselves forthwith with arms." 

Though denounced as rebellious, and stigma- 
tized as treasonable, the proposition for a con- 
vention was received with enthusiasm. Of ninety- 
seven towns, but one refused to join in the 
movement. Having met at the appointed time 
and place, and chosen Thomas Gushing, speaker 
of the late house, as chairman, the convention 
drew up a petition to the governor, in which, 
disclaiming any legislative authority, they urged 
the assembling of the general court as the only 
means of averting the alarming dangers that now 
threatened the destruction of the colony. 

Bernard, declining to receive the petition, re- 
turned a message to the delegates, declaring that 
he only excused them from the charge of treason 
on the ground of their ignorance. He called 
upon them to dissolve immediately, as it was his 
intention to take prompt measures for asserting 
and maintaining the royal prerogatives. 

To this threat, the convention responded by 
explaining the nature of their meeting, and ex- 
pressing their uneasiness at the governor's 



1768.] ACTION OF THE CONVENTION. 221 

suggestion of criminality — not from personal 
fear, but from a fixed aversion to compromise 
the dignity of the king. This communication 
Bernard likewise refused to accept, on the 
ground that such an acceptance would be an 
admission of the lawfulness of the convention, 
which he would by no means allow. 

Without exhibiting any annoyance, but with 
calmness and moderation, the dielegates pro- 
ceeded to draw up a report, declaring their own 
loyalty and that of the body of the people, whom 
they afiectionately advised to avoid any undue 
expression of resentment, and to prevent, as far 
as possible, all tumult and disorder. For them- 
selves, they promised that, in their several 
stations, they would yield their assistance to the 
civil authorities for the preservation of peace 
and order. After preparing a justification of 
their proceedings, and a detail of the late trans- 
actions, to be transmitted to their agent in 
London, the convention was dissolved. 



19* 



222 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1768. 



CHAPTER XYI. 

Arrival of troops in Boston — Action of the council — Quartered 
in the city — General Gage — Popular alarm and indignation 
— British instructions to Bernard — Virginia supports Massa- 
chusetts — Repeal of all taxes except the duty on tea — Ber- 
nard summoned to England — Disclosure of his letters — Po- 
pular indignation — Spirited conduct of the legislature — De- 
parture of Bernard — Governor Hutchinson — His policy — 
Dissatisfaction in Boston — Collision with the troops — Mas- 
sacre of the 3d of March — Arrest and trial of Captain Pres- 
ton and his soldiers — The verdict — Anniversary celebration 
of the massacre — The seat of government — The governor 
and judges to be paid by the crovpn — Protest of the general 
court — Alarm of the people — Resolutions drawn up — Una- 
nimity of the provincial towns — Uneasiness of Hutchinson 
— Public agitation — Virginia declares a union of the colonies 
necessary — Hutchinson's letters — Charges preferred against 
him — His trial and acquittal — His recall. 

On the same day that the convention dis- 
solved, the two regiments from Halifax arrived. 
To curb the "bad spirit" which, it was al- 
leged, prevailed in Boston, the whole force, 
numbering about one thousand, was stationed in 
the town, greatly to the indignation of its in- 
habitants. Difficulties immediately arose be- 
tween Bernard and the council, on the subject 
of furnishing the soldiers with quarters, and 
with such barrack articles as the Mutiny Act 
required from the colonies. 



1768.] ARRIVAL OF TROOPS. 223 

Before the troops arrived, the council had de- 
clined to co-operate with the governctr in desig- 
nating their future quarters, suggesting that the 
proper persons to be consulted were the select- 
men of the town. Castle William, they said, 
was abundantly capable of accommodating the 
two regiments from Halifax ; and, until the bar- 
racks thus provided by the colony were filled, 
the Mutiny Act forbade any troops from being 
quartered on the inhabitants. 

The first night after landing, by the direction 
of Bernard, the soldiers were accommodated 
with quarters in different public buildings. The 
next day application was made to the council 
for fuel, lights, and other articles enumerated by 
the Act of Parliament, but the latter still re- 
fused to move in the matter. 

Until the quarters in Castle William were 
filled, they could not consider the troops out- 
side as lawfully in barracks, and therefore 
they had no authority to allow the articles de- 
manded. Denying that there was any occasion 
for a military force to preserve the quiet of the 
town, they intimated a hope that the regiments 
already arrived would soon be sent to the castle, 
and those expected from Ireland be ordered to 
Nova Scotia, or to some other station requiring 
their services. 

General Gage, who arrived soon after, made 
an unsatisfactory attempt to settle the question. 



224 HISTORY OF MASSACHirSETTS. [1768. 

Finding it impossible to bend the council to his 
wishes, he, with much difficulty, hired houses for 
the troops, and procured the necessary barrack- 
articles at the expense of the crown. The 
soldiers, however, were still stationed in the 
town, where their presence created, at first, con- 
siderable alarm ; but as those feelings wore off, 
an almost general indignation began to manifest 
itself in continual quarrels between the town's- 
people and the soldiers. 

Meanwhile, several changes had taken place 
in the British ministry, and various measures 
proposed to parliament with respect to the colo- 
nies. Resolutions were adopted censuring the 
late proceedings in Massachusetts as illegal, and 
calculated to promote insurrection and rebellion ; 
and it was earnestly requested that Governor 
Bernard might be instructed to transmit the 
fullest information of all treasons committed 
within his government since January, 1768, to- 
gether with the names of those most active in 
the perpetration of such offences, with a view 
that they might be brought to England for 
trial. 

The intelligence of this proposed measure 
caused great uneasiness in Boston, but it soon 
subsided. Virginia, and the other colonies, 
publicly approved the course which had been 
taken by Massachusetts, and adopted spirited 
resolutions in opposition to the action meditated 



1769.] RECALL OF BERNARD. 225 

by the British government. During all this time 
the Impost Act of 1767 had, not been forgot- 
ten. In addition to the non-importation agree- 
ment, still faithfully observed, the people of 
Boston now took a bolder step, and reshipped 
obnoxious goods to England. This, with the 
determined concurrence of the other colonies in 
the engagement not to import, began to affect 
the prosperity of the British manufacturers, 
who at length solicited to be relieved from their 
distress by the repeal of a law which could not 
be enforced. Petitions, remonstrances, and ad- 
dresses were also poured in constantly from all 
parts of America, until finally, in April, 1770, 
the duties were repealed with the exception of 
threepence a pound on tea. 

The inexpediency of taxing America wa§ thus 
emphatically acknowledged, while the right to 
do so was as pertinaciously retained. 

In April, 1769, Bernard was summoned to 
England ; and, although he did not take his de- 
parture immediately, the people of Massachusetts 
testified their joy at his recall, fervently hoping 
it would eventually result in the appointment of 
a more popular officer in his place. Already 
detested for his misrepresentations of public 
men and public events in the province, new facts 
were disclosed, at the very moment of his re- 
moval, which raised to the highest pitch the 
popular indignation. Copies of letters he had 



226 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1769. 

written to prominent persons connected with the 
British government were received by the council, 
and by them immediately published. In these 
letters he was found to have advocated the ap- 
pointment, by the crown, of a royal council, in 
the place of that chosen by the representatives 
of the people ; thus proposing to annul, in an 
important particular, the charter of the colony. 
To defend the province from so glaring an 
encroachment upon its liberties, the council im- 
mediately despatched letters to England earnestly 
remonstrating against the proposition of Ber- 
nard, and respectfully suggesting that his per- 
manent recall would be of the greatest advan- 
tage to the crown. The house of representatives, 
which met soon after, took a still bolder stand, 
and expressly petitioned for the removal of the 
obnoxious governor. After one more stormy 
contest with the house, now almost wholly com- 
posed of his bitterest political enemies, Bernard 
delivered his farewell message, severely condem- 
natory of their proceedings, and prorogued all 
further legislation until the tenth of January, 
1770. A few days afterward he embarked for 
England, amid the firing of cannon, the ringing 
of bells, and other demonstrations of public 

joy. 

The duties of administration devolved upon 
Hutchinson, who presently received the royal 
commission as governor. Like Bernard he was 



1770.] COLLISION WITH THE TROOPS. 227 

an earnest supporter of the royal prerogative, 
though he disapproved of the vacillating course 
of the English parliament ; who, in his opinion, 
should have conceded to the colonies every thing 
or nothing. Already in no favour with the 
people, he regarded their disapproval of his 
course as a thing to be expected. Feeling bound 
to maintain the authority of the crown, yet con- 
scious of his inability to do so with effect, he 
already foresaw the approach of turbulent times, 
the termination of which, he argued, would be 
fatal to British supremacy in America. 

One of the principal local causes of dissatisfac- 
tion at this period was the military surveillance to 
which the people of Boston were subjected. Re- 
monstrances and petitions for the removal of the 
troops proving wholly unavailing, the latter be- 
came especial objects of hatred to many of the 
citizens ; who, in return, were regarded with an 
equal antipathy. Out of this turbulent condition 
of things arose frequent quarrels and collisions, 
very seriously compromising the public peace. 
At length an occurrence took place which creat- 
ed an intense sensation throughout the whole 
province. 

On Saturday, the 3d of March, 1770, a dif- 
ficulty occurred between the soldiers and the 
populace, in which several privates of the twenty- 
ninth regiment were roughly handled. Nothing 
further transpired until the following Monday. 



228 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1770. 

Early in the evening of that day there were 
symptoms of an approaching tumult. About 
eight o'clock, on a slight aiFray between two 
soldiers and a few of the inhabitants, the alarm 
bell was struck. A large number of citizens, 
armed with bludgeons and greatly excited, im- 
mediately poured into King street. Having dis- 
persed, shortly after, in little knots about the 
town, some of their number encountered the 
sentinel at the custom-house, whom they began 
to pelt with snow and pieces of ice. A sergeant 
and six men from the main guard, followed by 
Captain Preston, the officer of the day, hastened 
to the protection of their comrade. This rein- 
forcement being received with showers of snow- 
balls, in some of which stones were concealed, 
Preston ordered his men to charge upon the 
rioters and disperse them. Undaunted by hear- 
ing this command, the crowd loudly dared the 
troops to fire. At this moment, struck by a 
bludgeon, one of the soldiers fell. Exasperated 
by the blow, he sprung up immediately and fired 
at the supposed aggressor. At the same time 
his comrades, with one exception, discharged 
their pieces with deadly efi*ect into the multitude. 
Three persons were killed outright, and five 
wounded, two of them mortally. 

The excitement that ensued was terrific. In 
the midst of the confusion the soldiers escaped 
to the main guard, to strengthen which several 



1770.] ARREST OF PRESTON. 229 

additional companies were brought up. On the 
arrival of Hutchinson, he at once demanded of 
Preston by what authority he had ordered the 
soldiers to fire. Before the latter could answer, 
a cry was raised, <' The Town House, the Town 
House !" and thither the people immediately 
rushed, bearing Hutchinson in their midst. 
Stepping out upon a balcony, he entreated the 
people to retire peaceably to their homes, assur- 
ing them that a full and impartial enquiry should 
be made into the whole aifair. With a wild 
shout of ^' Home, home !" they separated tu- 
multuously. 

Notwithstanding this evidence of submission 
to the laws, the town continued to be fearfully 
agitated for several days. A grand procession 
accompanied the bodies of the slain to one grave, 
with all those marks of respect which are 
usually accorded to men who fall in the cause 
of freedom. Committees from town meetinsjs 
demanded the instant removal of the troops, 
predicting scenes of blood and carnage if the 
requisition was not complied with. As desirous 
of preserving peace as of maintaining the royal 
authority, Hutchinson reluctantly yielded, and 
the obnoxious regiments were removed to Castle 
William. Preston, and the eight soldiers par- 
ticularly implicated in the massacre, were com- 
mitted for trial during the following October ; 
John Adams and Josiah Quincy, two prominent 

20 



230 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1770. 

friends of the people, being wisely retained as 
counsel for the prisoners. Preston having given 
no orders to fire was acquitted, as were also eight 
of his men, against whom nothing could be 
positively proved. The remaining two were 
found guilty of manslaughter. Justice was thus 
rigidly administered to all. The outraged feel- 
ings of the people were properly vindicated, 
while their own violence was tacitly rebuked. 
Upon parliament the guilt of blood now properly 
rested, from its unwarranted interference with 
the civil regulations of the colony. 

The tragical event of the " Massacre," as it 
was soon called, sunk deep into the hearts of the 
people. Its anniversary was solemnly observed. 
Orators, celebrated for their eloquence, taking 
for their theme the arbitrary conduct of Eng- 
land, and the oppressions under which the pro- 
vinces laboured, sent out their fiery appeals 
from colony to colon}^ and enkindled that patri- 
otic heat which afterward sustained the Ameri- 
can people through all the dark and weary hours 
of the Revolution. 

During the two following years but few events 
of marked political importance occurred. The 
usual dispute was continued between the go- 
vernor and his friends as supporters of the royal 
prerogative, and the members of both houses as 
defenders of the rights of the peeple. 

The seat of government having been removed, 



1772.] ALARM OF THE PEOPLE. 231 

during Bernard's term, to Cambridge', and re- 
tained there by subsequent orders from England, 
the popular desire for its transfer back to Boston 
was for some years unheeded. At length, in 
1772, Hutchinson consented to the change, and 
by this means succeeded in restoring a tempo- 
rary quiet. In the midst of his dream of tran- 
quillity, Hutchinson was startled by a fresh ebul- 
lition of popular feeling, — not violent, but 
evidencing a more determined spirit of inde- 
pendence. Hitherto the salary of the governor, 
as well as that of the chief justices, had been 
paid by annual grants of the general court. 
Notice was now given that, hereafter, these 
salaries would be disbursed by the crown. This 
intelligence, so far as regarded the governor's 
salary, was received during the session of 1772. 
Resolutions were immediately adopted denouncing 
it as a violation of the colonial charter, and 
destructive to the independence of the ex- 
ecutive. 

A month or two after the adjournment, the 
royal grant for paying the chief justices was 
made public. Viewing this as a species of ju- 
dicial bribery, the people were at once alarmed 
and indignant. "A crisis is at hand," said they, 
<'in which the freedom or slavery of our posterity 
must be decided." A town meeting was called. 
A committee was appointed to draw up a state- 
ment of the rights of the province, and of all 



232 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1773. 

infringments thereon. This report was bold and 
spirited. It avowed that the numerous griev- 
ances under which the colonies laboured were 
sufficient to justify them in revolting, and erect- 
ing an independent government. The proposition 
to lay these declarations before the general court, 
for their sanction, and afterward transmit copies 
to the various colonial assemblies, was adopted 
with such extraordinary unanimity as to embrace 
the assent of nearly every town in the province. 
Hutchinson became alarmed. Forgetting, in his 
perplexity, his instructions to avoid disputes 
with the general court, he introduced the subject 
in his message at the opening of the session of 
1773, and undertook to confute the statements 
made in the report. Both branches of the le- 
gislature immediately drew up replies. Steadily 
pointing to the charter, they showed how often 
it had been violated, and announced their de- 
termination to protect it from all future en- 
croachments as far as their ability permitted. 

For force of logic, eloquence of language, 
and elevation of thought, these documents have 
rarely been surpassed. Even Hutchinson was 
compelled to admire where he would not be con- 
vinced. Without taking up the report of the 
Boston committee, the house prepared and passed 
a set of resolutions of their own, one of which, 
covering perhaps the whole ground, asserted that 
the only authority from which laws could ema- 



1773.] Hutchinson's letters. 233 

nate, so as to bind the people of the province in 
all cases tvhatsoever, resided in the general court 
or assembly. Kaising the salaries of the judges, 
they voted a grant for their payment ; but as 
Hutchinson would not give it his sanction, the 
difficulty "vvas permitted to remain open for a 
season. 

On Hutchinson's return, shortly after, from 
arranging, as it was then supposed, a final 
settlement of the long-disputed boundary ques- 
tion between New York and Massachusetts, he 
found the public mind greatly agitated. Virginia, 
in a series of noble resolutions, had responded 
to the appeal of the Boston committee, declaring 
a union of the colonies necessary, and recommend- 
ing each legislature to appoint a committee of cor- 
respondence, whose duties it should be to commu- 
nicate with one another on subjects important 
to the general welfare. A storm was also 
gathering around Hutchinson himself. During 
the second legislative session of the year, after 
endorsing the Virginia resolutions, the house 
took into consideration several copies of letters 
received from Franklin, at that time agent of 
the province in England. These letters, which 
had fallen accidentally into Franklin's posses- 
sion, were from Hutchinson, Oliver, and others, 
and contained, like those of Bernard, exagger- 
ated details- of colonial proceedings, the temper 
and disposition of the people were unfavourably 

20* 



234 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1773. 

represented ; and the whole tendency of the 
correspondence was to show the necessity of 
coercive measures against the province, if not 
a total abrogation of its charter, in order to 
secure the implicit obedience and subordination 
of the people. 

Repressing with difficulty an improper out- 
break of their scorn and indignation, both 
branches of the general court, with scarcely a 
dissenting voice, passed a petition and remon- 
strance to the crown, charging the governor 
and lieutenant-governor with betrayals of their 
trust, and with having given private, partial, 
and false information, with a view to the injury 
of the colony. As being guilty of these of- 
fences, the legislature prayed for justice against 
them, and their speedy removal from their re- 
spective offices. 

During the following February the British 
council, at the particular desire of Hutchinson's 
friends, accorded a hearing to the petition for 
his removal. Franklin attended as agent of the 
colony, and against him the foul-mouthed Wed- 
derburne, as council for Hutchinson, opened an 
almost overwhelming torrent of abuse. Dun- 
ning, who acted as counsel for the petitioners, 
made but a lame reply, and the complaint was 
dismissed as <' groundless, scandalous, and vex- 
atious." Hutchinson's recall, however, had 
already been determined on, though it was only 



1773.] TAX UPON TEA. 235 

intended to be temporary, or until the power of 
a military executive should have curbed the free 
Spirit of the colonists. For the part which 
Franklin had taken in this affair, he was de- 
prived of his oflfice of deputy postmaster-general. 
But these indignities were speedily forgotten in 
the momentous events which were slowly ma- 
turing at this time in the American colonies. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

The tax upon tea — Its repeal agitated — Non-importation agree- 
ment — Drawback allowed on tea^ — Its shipment to America 
— Conduct of Pennsylvania, New York, South Carolina, 
Massachusetts — Destruction of tea in Boston harbour — Port 
of Boston closed — Gage appointed governor — Reception of 
the Boston port bill — Action of the colonies — A national 
congress recommended — Warlike preparations — Convention 
at Milton — National congress at Philadelphia — Provincial 
congress at Salem — At Cambridge — Committee of Safety 
organized — Ward and Pomeroy appointed generals of militia 
— British detachment ordered to Concord — Skirmish at 
Lexington — At Concord — Gathering of the provincials — Re- 
treat of the British — Advance of Lord Percy — Arrival of 
the regulars at Charlestown — British and American loss — • 
Congress of Massachusetts — Additional levies ordered — 
Address to the people of Great Britain. 

Meanwhile, the repeal of the impost tax 
upon tea was being agitated. Not looked upon 
as a heavy grievance, there was yet seen in it a 
determination to establish taxation of the colo- 



236 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1773. 

nies as the right of parliament. Harmless in 
appearance, it was an insidious attempt to draw 
the Americans into an acknowledgment of the 
claim they had so long and earnestly resisted. 
Non-consumption and non-importation agree- 
ments had been entered into throughout the 
different colonies ; and, being pretty faithfully 
observed, the tax on tea, as an assertion of par- 
liamentary right, was rendered almost nugatory. 
Teas imported through England were seldom, 
if ever, in the market. The British East India 
Company's warehouses contained seventeen mil- 
lions of pounds of tea, for which no market could 
be found. Offering the company a drawback 
equal to the amount of duty, government pre- 
pared to force a large supply of the obnoxious 
article into the colonies ; where, as the tax was 
now merely nominal, they hoped it would be 
willingly received and find a ready sale. 

Regarding this scheme as a design to cheat 
them into compliance with a principle they hated, 
and thereby open the way to unlimited taxation, 
the people were determined to thwart it. The 
vessel bearing tea to Philadelphia was stopped 
four miles below the city, and sent back to Eng- 
land. A similar destination was given to the 
cargoes intended for New York. At Charleston, 
the tea was stored under custom-house care, but 
it was not permitted to be sold. 

Massachusetts was even more daring in her 



1773.] CARGOES OF TEA DESTROYED. 237 

resistance. Boston, backed by the neighbouring 
towns, on the arrival of the first of the tea ships, 
succeeded in terrifying its master into a promise 
of immediate departm-e, provided the consignees 
would give their consent. Committees from 
town meetings, petitioning and expostulating, 
vainly endeavoured to move their compliance. 
More stringent measures were threatened. Still 
holding to their determination, the consignees 
fled to the safety of the castle. A clearance 
was then demanded from the collector of customs. 
This he refused to give until the cargo was 
landed. Application was next made to Hutchin- 
son for a permit, without which no vessel would 
be allowed to leave the harbour. He, too, re- 
fused. Meanwhile, a second and a third vessel 
had arrived. Finding their comparatively peace- 
able efforts for the removal of the tea to avail 
but little, the people decided upon its destruc- 
tion. Disguising themselves as Mohawk Indians, 
a party of some fifty men marched down to the 
wharf and boarded the ships. It was about dusk 
on the evening of the 16th of December, 1773. 
A town meeting had just broken up. Its mem- 
bers, still agitated by the stirring eloquence of 
Quincy, had followed to the wharf, where they 
now remained silent and anxious spectators of 
the scene. For two hours they lingered, until, 
with a single exulting shout, the Indians com- 
pleted their labour. Two hundred and forty 



238 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1774. 

chests of tea had been broken open, and their 
contents thrown into the waters of the Atlantic. 

Great was the indignation of the ministry 
when they received intelligence of the fate of 
the tea. The destiny of their American power 
was there foreshadowed. But they would not 
yield without a struggle. A bill for closing the 
port of Boston and removing the seat of govern- 
ment to Salem, was immediately passed in 
parliament. Another, virtually annulling the 
colonial charter, followed. To insure the en- 
forcement of these and other odious measures, 
General Gage, now commander-in-chief of the 
army in North America, was appointed governor, 
in the place of Hutchinson, whom, for the pre- 
sent, it was determined to recall. An addition 
of fom' regiments was also made to the troops 
already in the castle. 

While the ministry were thus employed, Hut- 
chinson had been contending, for the last time, 
with his old enemies of the general court. In 
February, 1774, the subject of the justices' 
salaries was again brought before the legislature. 
Of the five judges, Oliver, the chief, alone re- 
fused to receive his pay from the province instead 
of the croAvn. Thwarted in an attempt to pro- 
cure his removal, the house exhibited articles of 
impeachment against him ; but before they could 
be fully acted upon, Hutchinson, after announc- 
ing his recall, prorogued the court. 



1774.] NATIONAL CONGRESS PROPOSED. 239 

Soon after, intelligence was received of the 
passage of the port bill. Assembling in town 
meeting on the 13th of May, the people of Bos- 
ton took the new measure into grave and solemn 
consideration. Appealing to God and to the 
world, they proclaimed its injustice and cruelty. 
In order to enforce its repeal, resolutions were 
adopted and ordered to be transmitted to the 
other colonies, inviting them to renew their non- 
importation agreements as to all British goods. 
While the meeting was thus employed. Gage had 
landed in the town, with scarcely a welcome, 
and with none of the usual marks of public joy. 

Copies of the port bill were despatched to all 
parts of the colonies. Fierce was the flame that 
arose. Meetings were everywhere held, re- 
sponding to that of Boston. The assembly of 
Connecticut recommended a National Congress. 
The house of burgesses of Virginia appointed 
the first of June, on which the Act went into 
operation, as a day of fasting, humiliation, and 
prayer. Being immediately afterward dissolved, 
they met privately and recommended a National 
Congress. In the other colonies, also, this idea 
was broached and encouraged. By the Massa- 
chusetts general court, which presently met at 
Salem, the expediency of such a congress was 
declared, and Thomas Cushing, John and Samuel 
Adams, Robert Treat Paine, and James Bowdoin, 
appointed delegates. The congress was to meet 



240 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1774. 

at Philadelphia on the first of September. To 
defray the expenses of the delegates, five hun- 
dred pounds were to be raised by the several 
towns and districts in the province. Having 
disposed of this business, they recommended the 
adoption of non- importation and non-consumption 
agreements, which, notwithstanding the efforts 
of Gage, were afterward put into operation 
throughout the colony. On the very day in 
which this recommendation was made, Gage, 
already incensed by an address of the assembly, 
reflecting severely on his two immediate prede- 
cessors, sent the provincial secretary to proclaim 
a dissolution. Finding the doors locked, and 
being denied admittance, the secretary read the 
governor's proclamation on the stairs. Thus 
ended the last provincial assembly of Massa- 
chusetts. 

Meanwhile, the port bill was working with 
injurious effect. Though liberal contributions 
were raised for her in the different colonies, 
Boston, now cut off from commerce — the main 
dependence of her twenty thousand inhabitants 
— suffered in the extreme. The people of Salem, 
Marblehead, and other seaport towns, nobly 
refusing to rise upon the ruins of their neigh- 
bour, addressed themselves to Gage, and, in the 
glowing language of generous feeling, besought 
his influence in mitigating or removing the dis- 
tress to which Boston was subjected. To the 



1774.] HOSTILE PREPARATIONS. 241 

merchants of that city they offered the use of 
their stores, wharves, and even their personal 
services, free of all charge. 

The dawn of American independence was at 
hand. Already, a contest seemed inevitable. 
Gage was determined and active. He issued 
proclamations against sedition, concentrated six 
regiments in Boston, fortified the Neck, seized 
the provincial military stores at Cambridge and 
Charlestown, and in every way evidenced his 
fear of outbreak. The colonists, on the other 
hand, were not idle. The country was alive 
with warlike preparation. " Minute-men" were 
training on every green. Arms were cleaned, 
ammunition prepared, and military stores col- 
lected. Town meetings and county conventions 
— held in every town and village — aroused, sus- 
tained, and guided the spirit of resistance. 
Gage's seizure of the powder at Charlestown 
had created intense excitement, and large num- 
bers of people assembled in arms at Cambridge. 
With difficulty they were persuaded from making 
an immediate attack upon the troops. Soon 
after, further evidence was given of the inflamed 
state of public feeling. It having been rumoured 
that the British fleet were firing upon Boston, 
in less than twenty-four hours nearly thirty 
thousand militia were in arms, marching to the 
relief of their beleaguered capital. Only on 

21 



242 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1774. 

discovering the falsity of the rumour would they 
disperse. 

By the late parliamentary law, the councillors 
and judges derived their appointments from the 
crown. In August, Gage received a list of 
thirty-six councillors thus appointed. Of these, 
the greater part were sworn in ; but the popular 
hatred soon became so violent against them, that 
many were terrified into resigning. The new 
judges fared no better. Juries would not serve 
under them ; and, in some places, their sittings 
were broken up. 

On the 6th of September, a large convention 
assembled at Milton, in Suffolk county, to which 
Boston belonged, and passed a series of spirited 
resolutions and recommendations ; among others, 
that no obedience was due to any of the recent 
Acts of Parliament ; and that the councillors 
under the new law, who did not immediately re- 
sign, were to be treated as obstinate and incor- 
rigible enemies of their country. The people 
were also exhorted to perfect themselves in 
military exercises ; and the tax-collectors re- 
quested not to pay over any money in their 
hands until the province was <' placed on a con- 
stitutional foundation," or until the provincial 
congress, which they had recommended, should 
otherwise order. These resolutions were for- 
warded to the National Congress, then in session 
at Philadelphia. 



1774.] CONGRESS AT SALEM. 243 

That body, composed of delegates from twelve 
provinces, during a long and anxious session of 
fiftj-two days, prepared a declaration of rights, 
a petition to the king, a memorial to the people 
of England, and an address to the inhabitants 
of Canada. One of their first public acts was 
the adoption of a series of resolutions expressive 
of their genuine sympathy for their fellow- 
countrymen of Massachusetts. Approving of 
their late proceedings, they encouraged them to 
persevere, firmly but temperately, in the line 
of conduct proposed by the convention at Mil- 
ton ; and resolved that the whole continent ought 
to extend them its cordial support in resisting 
the recent tyrannical abrogation of their ancient 
and approved charter. These resolutions were 
sent to Gage, accompanying a high-toned but 
judicious letter, in which they remonstrated 
against his arbitrary exercise of military rule, 
which could only drive the people to desperation ; 
and concluded with an earnest entreaty that he 
would discontinue the fortifications in Boston. 

Meanwhile, Gage had called a session of the 
house of representatives, to meet at Salem early 
in October. Events changing his determination, 
however, he countermanded this call. Elections 
were, nevertheless, held, and on the 11th of 
October, the new members met at Salem. Hav- 
ing waited a day for some one to administer the 
usual oaths, and nobody appearing, they resolved 



244 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1775. 

themselves into a provincial congress, chose 
Hancock for president, and adjourned to Con- 
cord. Having drawn up a memorial to Gage, 
declaring that until the military preparations 
in Boston were discontinued, he need not hope 
for satisfaction among the people, they ad- 
journed to Cambridge, whence a committee was 
sent to the governor with their memorial. Gage, 
in answering, said that his preparations were 
justified by a regard for his own safety, and 
concluded by calling upon them to desist from 
their proceedings, which were illegal. The 
congress, however, in defiance of punishments 
threatened, continued in session until toward 
the close of November, when they temporarily 
adjourned. During their session, they appointed 
a Committee of Safety, at the head of which was 
Hancock, with power to call out the militia ; the 
militia were authorized to elect their company 
and regimental ofiicers ; and, at the same time, 
Ward and Pomeroy, the latter of whom had been 
a colonel in the French and Indian war, were 
commissioned as generals. Military stores we're 
ordered to be procured, toward which twenty 
thousand pounds were appropriated ; and the 
tax-collectors were called upon to pay over their 
funds to the newly-appointed provincial treasurer. 
Meeting again in February, 1775, prompt mea- 
sures were taken to arm and equip the militia. 
Magazines of provisions and military stores were 



1775.] TROOPS SENT TO LEXINGTON. 245 

established. ' Having prepared an address to 
the people, and appointed a day of fasting and 
prayer, the congress again adjourned for a short 
interval. 

Matters were now approaching a crisis. On 
Sunday, the 26th of February, 1775, Gage sent 
a detachment of one hundred and fifty regulars 
to seize a quantity of cannon deposited at Salem. 
They were obliged to return, however, empty- 
handed, the cannon being nowhere to be found. 
In the search for them, they barely avoided a 
contest with a party of the militia. 

Not long after this affair, the Massachusetts 
Congress re-assembled. While yet in session 
intelligence of the most exciting character was 
received. On the evening of the 18th of April, 
Gage despatched a force of some eight hundred 
men, under the command of Colonel Smith and 
Major Pitcairn, to seize and destroy a quantity 
of military stores which he had been informed 
were collected at Concord, some twenty miles 
from Boston. It was reported that the expedi- 
tion had also in view the arrest of Hancock and 
Adams. Every precaution was taken to prevent 
an alarm, but to no purpose ; the firing of guns 
and ringing of bells heralded their swift and 
silent advance. About sunrise on the morning 
of the nineteenth, the detachment arrived at 
Lexington. On a green not far from the road, 
a small party of minute-men were drawn up. 
21* 



246 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1775. 

Pitcairn, -who was at the head of the British 
column, riding toward the militia, called out — 
<' Disperse, you rebels ; throw down your arms, 
and disperse!" His order was not promptly 
obeyed. Some scattering shots were then fired 
by the British troops, who, immediately after, 
with a loud shout, poured in a regular volley, 
by which eight of the provincials were killed. 
Dispersing, they returned the fire, which had 
been entirely unprovoked. 

Having thus routed the few provincials at 
Lexington, the detachment marched on to Con- 
cord, which they entered unresisted, and de- 
stroyed the stores they found there. At their 
approach, however, a few minute-men, as- 
sembled on the green, had retired across a 
bridge back of the tOAvn. This bridge was placed 
under the guard of three companies of British 
light infantry. The provincials, from the hill 
where they were posted, seeing several fires iu 
the town, which they thought were from burning 
houses, now came down to the bridge and made 
a peaceable attempt to cross. Pulling up a few 
planks, the guard retired to the Concord side 
of the river; and the minute-men still ad- 
vancing, they sent in a volley, by which two of 
the provincials were killed. Immediately the 
fire was returned, and, with a loss of several 
men, the regulars fled to the main body in town. 
A retreat was now ordered and hastily begun. 



17T5.] KETREAT FROM CONCORD. 247 

There was good cause. The whole country was 
alive with their exasperated and determined foes ; 
who, hurrying in from all sides, now poured in 
upon the British troops from behind houses, 
trees, fences, and every place affording cover, an 
irregular but continued and deadly fire. Worn 
down with heat, and retiring in a disorderly man- 
ner, the detachment at length arrived at Lex- 
ington, where, fortunately for their safety, they 
were met by a supporting column of nine hundred 
men and two pieces of cannon, under the charge 
of Lord Percy, 

Breathing a little, the whole party now fell 
back toward Boston. As soon as the retreat 
was resumed, the provincials renewed their fire, 
which was kept up with increasing vigour during 
the rest of the march. About sunset, utterly 
exhausted with their march of thirty-five miles, 
the regulars arrived at Charlestown. Encamp- 
ing that night on Bunker Hill, the next morning 
they crossed over to Boston. 

During this engagement, in which from eight 
to sixteen hundred of their best troops contended 
with an irregular force of provincials, at no one 
time exceeding five hundred men, the British 
lost a grand total of two hundred and seventy- 
three in killed, wounded, and missing. Of the 
provincials, fifty were killed and thirty-eight 
wounded. 

Lnmediately on receiving this intelligence, the 



248 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1775. 

CoDgress of Massachusetts voted to raise thir- 
teen thousand six hundred men, which it was 
hoped the other New England colonies would 
augment to thirty thousand. An artillery regi- 
ment was authorized, at the head of which Grid- 
ley, an old engineer officer, was placed. A 
captain-generalship was given to Ward, and 
Thomas was made a lieutenant-general. To 
provide for the expenses of the new recruits, 
paper currency to the amount of X100,000 was 
ordered to be issued. An account of the recent 
battle was then drawn up, accompanied with 
depositions to show that the regulars were the 
aggressors, and despatched to England. With 
it was a brief but spirited address to the people 
of Great Britain, in which, still professing loyalty 
to the king, hardly as they had been used, the 
colonists yet avowed their determination not to 
submit to the tyranny of an evil ministry ; and, 
appealing to the justice of Heaven, expressed 
their resolution " to die or be free." 



1775.] RESISTANCE EXCITED. 249 



CHAPTER XVin. 

Reception by the colonies of the battle of Lexington — Boston 
invested by the provincials — Green commissioned by Rhode 
Island — Putnam appointed to command the Connecticut 
troops — Stark arrives with reinforcements from New Hamp- 
shire — Meeting of the continental congress — Capture of 
Ticonderoga and Crown Point by Allen and Warner — Gage 
proclaims martial law — Intrenchments thrown up on Breed's 
Hill — Movements of the British — Battle of Breed's or Bunker 
Hill — Death of Warren — Washington appointed commander- 
in-chief — His arrival in camp before Boston — Siege of Boston 
— Provincial government organized — Falmouth bombarded 
and burned — Privateering encouraged by the general court 
— Reassembling of the continental congress — The army re- 
organized — Patriotic conduct of Colonel Whitcombe — Gage 
recalled — Howe appointed commander-in-chief of the Eng- 
lish forces — Washington prepares to assault Boston — The 
town adandoned by the enemy. 

The tidings of the battle of Lexington flew 
with wonderful rapidity from colony to colony, 
and every where excited the most determined 
spirit of resistance to ministerial oppression. 
Flushed with a success almost unparalleled in 
military history, the provincials lost all fear, and 
were confident of final victory in the contest 
which had been forced upon them. Armies were 
created as if by magic. Two days after the 
battle, Boston was invested by a volunteer force 
of twenty thousand men. Rhode Island imme- 
diately voted an army of observation fifteen 



250 HISTORY or MASSACHUSETTS. [17T5. 

hundred strong, to command which Nathaniel 
Green, -a young ironmaster, ah^eady in the field 
before Boston, was commissioned. Six thousand 
men were voted by Connecticut, four thousand 
of which were to aid their brethren in Massa- 
chusetts. General Putnam, a veteran of sixty 
winters, accustomed to the storms of battle, was 
placed at their head. New Hampshire called 
for three regiments, two of which were already 
under the command of the adventurous Stark, 
in the investing army around Boston. In the 
middle and southern colonies a no less active 
spirit prevailed, and every thing betokened an 
earnest struggle. 

The Continental Congress, which met in 
May, at once entered actively into business. 
Denying any present design of independence, 
they resolved that war was already com- 
menced by Great Britain, and measures were 
taken for the speedy organization of an army 
for the defence of the " United Colonies." De- 
claring the compact between the crown and the 
people of Massachusetts dissolved, they recom- 
mended the inhabitants of that province to form 
a new government according to the powers con- 
tained in their original charter. 

Meanwhile, an adventurous party, under the 
direction of Ethan Allen and Seth Warner, had 
surprised and captured the fortresses of Ticonde- 
roga and Crown Point, along with which a large 



1775.] MARTIAL LAW PROCLAIMED. 251 

quantity of valuable and much needed military 
stores fell into their hands. Boston was still under 
close investment, and Gage began to feel its 
effects. The want of fresh provisions was a se- 
rious inconvenience ; to remedy which, foraging 
parties were sent out upon some of the small 
islands in the bay, but on every occasion the in- 
habitants beat them off, at times with consider- 
able loss. Beyond these skirmishes, for a period 
of nearly two months both the besieged and the 
besiegers were apparently idle. Gage, however, 
had been receiving constant accession to his 
garrison, while the x\mericans were occupied in 
drilling their brave but untrained recruits. 

With a force now augmented to some ten 
thousand of the best troops in the British 
service, Gage proclaimed martial law as a pre- 
lude to more vigorous action against the refrac- 
tory colonists. Pardon, however, was offered to 
all who would immediately lay down their arms 
and return to their allegiance, Samuel Adams 
and John Hancock only excepted, "whose crimes 
were of that nature which condign punishment" 
alone could expiate. 

This proclamation aroused the activity of the 
Americans, now some sixteen thousand in num- 
ber, under the command of John Whitcombe 
and Dr. Joseph Warren, who had been commis- 
sioned as first and second major-generals of the 
Massachusetts forces. Hitherto Charlestown had 



252 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1775. 

been neglected by both parties. Whether they 
should act on the offensive or defensive, the 
Americans viewed its possession as important. 
Accordingly, on the night of the 16th of June, 
pursuant to previous orders, Colonel Prescott, 
with about fifteen hundred men, set out to 
occupy Bunker Hill, a considerable height just 
within the peninsula of Charlestown. Prescott, 
through some mistake, passed on to Breed's 
Hill, high and large like the other, but much 
nearer Boston, where, by daylight, his party had 
thrown up a small but formidable redoubt. 
When the morning mists broke away, the guns 
of the Lively, British man-of-war, summoned the 
town, the camp, and the fleet to witness a sight 
that seemed but little less than a prodigy — so 
silently and expeditiously had the American en- 
trenchments arose. Immediately a heavy can- 
nonade was opened upon the provincials. With 
the coolness of veterans they continued their 
toil, extorting admiration even from their ene- 
mies. By noon they had thrown up a breast- 
work, extending from the redoubt down toward 
the northern foot of the hill. As the eminence 
thus partially fortified might command Boston, 
Gage determined to dislodge the Americans. 
For this purpose two thousand picked men, led 
by Generals Howe and Pigot, crossed over in 
boats to Moreton's Point, where, forming under 
cover of the guns of the fleet, they remained 



1775.] BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 253 

until additional troops had swelled their number 
to nearly three thousand. 

Meanwhile Stark, with the two New Hamp- 
shire regiments, arrived on the ground. Taking 
a position to the left, and in the rear of the yet 
unfinished breastwork, he secured an imperfect 
cover for his men behind some post and rail 
fences, set up in parallel lines a few feet apart, 
the space between which was filled in with new- 
mown hay. With this addition, the American 
force was probably twenty-three hundred in 
number. Many of these, especially those upon 
whom the brunt of the battle afterward fell, 
had been labouring all night in the entrenchments. 
Two field-pieces were their only artillery. 

As thus the two armies prepared for a deadly 
struggle, thousands of anxious spectators had 
gathered upon the neighbouring heights, and the 
roofs and steeples of Boston. Over all was the 
calm and unclouded sky of June. About three 
o'clock in the afternoon, from ships and batteries, 
a furious cannonade broke upon the American 
lines. Covered by this cannonade, the British 
slowly advanced, halting, at times, to deliver 
their fire. Not till the enemy had well-nigh 
reached the redoubt, did the provincials show 
signs of life. Then, deliberate in their aim, and 
with the certainty of tried marksmen, they sent 
volley after volley into the British ranks with 
deadly effect. The enemy wavered, broke and fled. 

22 



254 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1775. 

While their officers rallied them for a fresh at- 
tack, Charlestown was set on fire by order of 
Gage. Built mostly of wood, it was soon 
wrapped in flames, which gave additional horror 
to the scene, as the British line a second time 
moved slowly forward. Met again by that quick 
and fatal succession of volleys, they again fled, 
confused and disheartened. A third time, 
forced by the swords of their officers, and en- 
couraged by Clinton, who now made his appear- 
ance, the regulars advanced. A few pieces of 
artillery had gained a position to rake the breast- 
work ; the Americans had expended their ammu- 
nition ; and now, attacked on three sides, they 
were driven from the redoubt at the point of the 
bayonet. Meanwhile, the English light-infantry 
were pressing Stark, who, however, stood un- 
shaken till the redoubt was lost. Clubbing their 
muskets, the provincials reluctantly fell back in a 
body, and efiected a safe retreat over Charlestown 
Neck. Some few fell by the cannonade to which 
they were here exposed ; a cannonade so terrible, 
apparently, that troops sent to reinforce them 
had not ventured to pass through it. The Bri- 
tish attempted no pursuit. Advancing as far as 
Bunker Hill, from which the battle derives its 
present name, they there entrenched. Prospect 
Hill, immediately in front, was occupied by 
the Americans. 

Such a victory, for the British, was but little 



1775.] DEATH OF WARREN. 255 

better than defeat. Twenty-three hundred men, 
mostly farmers, untrained, and little used to the 
horrid details of battle, with a loss of only four 
hundred and fifty in killed, wounded, and miss- 
ing, had bravely confronted an army three thou- 
sand strong, chosen troops of the British service, 
and backed by the cannon of a fleet. Only 
when they could no longer fight, they yielded 
their position; one dearly gained by the victors, 
who lost on that momentous day ten hundred and 
fifty-four men, nearly one-fourth of whom were 
dead on the field. 

Among the American slain none was more 
deeply lamented than General Warren, who, 
with Putnam, acted as a volunteer on this occa- 
sion. As a statesman, he was sagacious; as an 
orator, eloquent ; as a patriot, ardent and sincere ; 
and as a husband, father, and friend, beloved by 
the social circle in which he moved. Quitting 
the peaceful walks of his humane profession, he 
had fallen in defence of the liberties of his 
country, leaving an infant family, with small 
means of support ; for whom congress, after long 
delay, and only through the warm and perseve- 
ring efibrts of Arnold, at length made suitable 
provision. 

Meanwhile the Continental Congress had ap- 
pointed George Washington commander-in-chief 
of the American forces. Accepting the com- 
mission in a modest speech, he declined any pe- 



256 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1775. 

cuniary reward, a desire for which, he said, 
could never have tempted him to accept so ardu- 
ous an employment at the expense of his do- 
mestic ease and happiness. Ward, Lee, Schuy- 
ler, Putnam, and Gates were commissioned as 
major-generals. Of these Gates and Lee had 
been British officers, and had served with dis- 
tinction ; Schuyler was from New York ; and 
Ward and Putnam were already in camp at 
Boston. Pomeroy, Heath, and Thomas, of Mas- 
sachusetts ; Wooster, a provincial officer in the 
late French war, and Spencer of Connecticut ; 
Greene, of Rhode Island ; Montgomery, an Irish 
officer, who had gained reputation at Louisburg 
and Quebec ; and Sullivan, a member of con- 
gress from New York, were appointed brigadiers. 
Within two weeks after the battle of Bunker 
Hill, Washington and Lee arrived in camp. At 
once entering upon the duties of his command, 
Washington determined upon a close and com- 
plete investment of Boston. An assault was 
not to be thought of at present. The army, ex- 
cellent in materials, was badly organized. Of 
powder, there was hardly a dozen rounds to a 
man. Artillery and besieging tools were scarce, 
and what few they had were almost worthless. 
Washington, therefore, separating his force of 
fifteen thousand men into three grand divisions, 
extended his line over a distance of ten miles. 
The right wing, commaned by Ward, resting at 



1755.] BOSTON INVESTED. 257 

Roxbury ; the left, under Lee, on Prospect Hill ; 
while the centre, directed by the commander-in- 
chief himself, took post at Cambridge. A con- 
tinuous chain of small cantonments kept the 
communication open. Parties were also stationed 
along the sea-coast as a check to the British 
foraging parties. Thus arranged, Washington 
put his soldiers under constant drill, at the same 
time intimating to congress the necessity of a 
new and more efficient military organization. 

Following the advice of congress, a system of 
government was now adopted in Massachusetts, 
and adhered to until the formation of a consti- 
tution five years afterward, wholly in accord- 
ance with the provisions of the old charter. A 
house of representatives was chosen ; and 
these, on the 19th of July, proceeded to the 
election of councillors. Adhering to former 
usage, the vacant offices of governor and lieu- 
tenant-governor were vested in the newly-elected 
council. While the general court was yet in 
session, Falmouth, now Portland, then a flourish- 
ing town of some five hundred houses, was bom- 
barded and burned by a fleet of British cruisers, 
under command of one Lieutenant Mowatt. 
After this wanton outrage, Mowatt attempted a 
landing, when the unterrified inhabitants stood 
to their arms and he was beaten ofi". Previously, 
Mowatt had chased a vessel into Gloucester 
harbour, where he tried to capture her with a 

22* 



258 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1775. 

party in boats. The town's-people assisting the 
vessel, the boats were driven back, when the 
Englishman commenced a fire on the town. 
Afterward, attempting to land, he was again 
foiled, losing his boats and thirty-five men. To 
counteract such incursions in future, the general 
court passed a law to authorize and encourage 
privateering ; at the same time providing for the 
equipment of two armed vessels on their own ac- 
count. Vessels were likewise fitted out by Wash- 
ington to cut ofi" the Boston supply-ships. Cap- 
tain Manly, of the schooner Lee, distinguished 
himself in this service. Cruising in Massachu- 
setts Bay, perilous from storms and the presence 
of the enemy, he made several prizes, among 
which was a brig laden with mortars, heavy guns, 
and working tools. These, with some cannon 
brought by Knox from Ticonderoga, proved a 
welcome addition to the resources of the conti- 
nental army. Simultaneously a large supply of 
powder, taken from English vessels captured off 
Charleston, arrived in camp. 

Congress, of which Hancock was now presi- 
dent, having assembled, under the style of the 
" Thirteen United Colonies," on the 5th of Sep- 
tember, it was determined to reorganize the be- 
sieging army. By the plan agreed upon it was 
to consist of twenty-six regiments, numbering 
in all, twenty thousand men. In selecting of- 
ficers, much difficulty was experienced by Wash- 



1775.] PATRIOTISM OF WHITCOMBE. 259 

ington, upon whom this duty devolved. Jealousies 
and heart-burnings were created, and many men 
would not re-enlist until they knew with whom 
they were to serve. Notwithstanding these 
drawbacks, Washington laboured cheerfully; 
and, though compelled to encounter many ex- 
amples of w^ant of public spirit, he could point 
to others of brilliant patriotism. Particularly 
he spoke in approbation of the conduct of Colo- 
nel Asa Whitcombe, a meritorious officer, who 
had served in the late French war. On account 
of his advanced age, he had been left out of the 
new list of regimental officers. To give a good 
example to his men, who, for this supposed slight, 
refused to enlist again, the gallant veteran took 
the gun of a private. Struck with this patriotic 
forgetfulness of self, one of the other colonels, 
with a nobleness that likewise pleased the heart 
of Washington, resigned his regiment in favour 
of Whitcombe, to whom ' it was immediately 
given. 

While, during the winter, Washington laboured 
to perfect his army, the British remained cooped 
up in Boston. The ministry, perhaps dissatisfied 
with the result of the battle of Bunker Hill, had 
recalled Gage, and General Howe was now com- 
mander-in-chief. The troops suffered greatly. 
Those encamped on Bunker Hill had no other 
protection than their tents. Supplies sent from 
England seldom came safe to hand. Salted 



260 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1776. 

provisions were their chief food, and for fuel 
they were obliged to pull down houses. 

On the 4th of March, 1776, having, almost 
within gunshot of twenty British regiments, dis- 
banded one army and organized a second, Wash- 
ington was prepared for a more active siege. 
Diverting the attention of the garrison by a vigo- 
rous cannonade from the eminence of Cambridge 
nearest Boston, on the night of the 4th, which 
was dark and favourable for the enterprise, he 
despatched Thomas with some two thousand men 
to occupy Dorchester, or South Boston Heights, 
a hill commanding the town, and a considerable 
part of the harbour of Boston. By morning a 
strong redoubt was thrown up. Howe, choosing 
between abandoning the town or dislodging the 
Americans, decided upon the latter. In expecta- 
tion of such an attempt, Washington had pre- 
pared to force four thousand men into Boston 
by way of Charles' I^iver. But a violent storm 
having arisen, Howe delayed his intended assault 
till the following day, when despairing of success, 
he altered his mind, and determined upon an im- 
mediate evacuation. 

After gathering up all the woollen and linen 
goods they could find, and wantonly destroying 
a large quantity of salt, molasses, and other ar- 
ticles, belonging to private persons, the British 
began to embark. Howe having threatened to 
Bet the town on fire if molested in his departure, 



1776.] BOSTON EVACUATED. 261 

Washington did not attempt to harass the re- 
treat. Eleven days were consumed in the evacu- 
ation, during which time nine thousand soldiers, 
sailors, and marines, together with fifteen hundred 
unfortunate loyalists, had embarked on one hun- 
dred and fifty vessels of various kinds. 

Scarcely was the evacuation completed, when 
Washington triumphantly entered the town. 
Released from their long confinement, and from 
the various inconveniences and insults to which 
they had been subjected, the inhabitants welcomed 
him as a deliverer. Mutual congratulations be- 
tween friends and relatives detained within the 
British lines, and those who were kept without, 
were now exchanged with unusual warmth. The 
Massachusetts general court highly complimented 
Washington in an address, to which he replied 
with becoming modesty. Congress honoured 
him with a vote of thanks, and ordered a medal 
to be struck to commemorate his victory. 



262 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1776. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Massachusetts during the war — Washington in New York — 
Capture of English transports — Invasion of Canada by 
Montgomery — March of Arnold through the wilderness — 
His appearance before Quebec — His junction with Mont- 
gomery — Attack on Quebec — Death of Montgomery and 
retreat of Arnold — Canada evacuated by the Americans — 
Declaration of Independence — Success of Carleton — Evacua- 
tion of New York — Washington's retreat across the Jerseys 
— Defeat of the Hessians — Skirmish at Princeton — Howe's 
movements — Battle of Brandywine — Of Germantown — 
Burgoyne descends from Canada — Battle of Bennington — 
Of Saratoga — Surrender of Burgoyne — Treaty with France 
— Philadelphia evacuated by Howe — Battle of Monmouth — 
Arrival of the French squadron — Newport invested — Defeat 
of Sullivan — Virginia harassed by the British — Georgia 
invaded — Conquest of South Carolina — Defeat of Gates — 
Hancock elected governor of Massachusetts — Movements of 
Greene — Battle of Guilford Court House — Cornwallis enters 
Virginia — Siege of Yorktown — Surrender of Corrtwallis. 

After the evacuation of Boston by the British 
army under Howe, the field of active military 
operations was shifted from the borders of Mas- 
sachusetts. During the entire struggle for in- 
dependence, the people escaped, with a few 
trivial exceptions, the immediate horrors and 
devastations of war. More densely settled than 
her sister" colonies, with a militia w^ell organized 
and prompt to rally against an invading force, 
the British, mindful of Lexington and Bunker 



1776.] NUMBER OF MEN FURNISHED. 263 

Hill, made no serious attempt to invade her 
shores. But if Massachusetts was thus exempted 
from the evils of invasion — if, after the two 
prominent battles already noticed, scarcely a 
skirmish was fought within her jurisdiction — it 
was not from any unwillingness on the part of 
her people to bear their full proportion of the 
miseries, as well as the honours and blessings, 
of the momentous and wearisome, struggle. 
Patriotic, brave, and conscious that Massachu- 
setts had been among the foremost to disseminate 
the principles of liberty, many of her sons served 
in the continental army wherever danger to the 
common country called them ; and on many of 
the important battle-fields of the Revolution, 
their blood was liberally shed in defence of 
freedom and the American Union. Of the two 
hundred and thirty-one thousand soldiers fur- 
nished to the continental ranks during the contest 
for independence, no less than sixty-seven thou- 
sand were brought into service by Massachusetts 
alone. 

Howe's destination w^as Halifax. Washington, 
ignorant of this, leaving five regiments in Boston, 
hastened with the main army to New York, 
whither he was apprehensive the British had 
sailed. Not long after his departure, consider- 
able excitement was created by the appearance 
in Nantucket Roads, below the town, of a British 
squadron convoying a fleet of transports. The 



264 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1776. 

population assembling in arms, thej were soon 
driven off. Three other transports, uninformed of 
Howe's evacuation, coming into the harbour a 
few days afterward, were captured, and two 
hundred and fifty soldiers who were in them 
made prisoners. 

While Washington was besieging Boston, 
Canada had been nearly won, and completely 
lost. In the fall of 1775, Montgomery, after 
reducing St. John's and Montreal, pushed down 
the St. Lawrence toward Quebec. In the mean 
time, Arnold, with eleven hundred men, includ- 
ing Morgan's Virginia Rifles and a company of 
artillery, was despatched from the camp before 
Boston to co-operate with Montgomery. After 
one of the most memorable marches on record, 
through the dense wilderness between the head- 
waters of the Kennebec and Chaudiere rivers, 
during which he underwent the severest toils and 
privations, and was abandoned by nearly half 
his men, Arnold, on the 5th of November, sud- 
denly appeared on the St. Lawrence opposite 
Quebec. Had he been able to cross at once, the 
town might have fallen into his hands. While 
he was detained collecting boats to make the 
passage, Carleton, the English commandant, 
prepared for a desperate defence. Arnold, still 
hopeful, on the night of the 13th crossed the 
river, and the next morning drew up his little 
army of scarcely five hundred on the Plains of 



1776.] RETREAT FROM CANADA. 265 

Abraham. The British, however, wouhl not risk 
an open battle. Wanting means to conduct a 
siege, Arnold withdrew up the river to Point au 
Trembles, where he joined his forces with those 
of Montgomery. Thus united, the two generals 
had but little over one thousand effective men ; 
yet they determined to renew the attempt against 
Quebec. With a courage almost desperate, they 
decided on an assault. Before daylight on the 
morning of the 31st of December, in the midst 
of a driving snow-storm, the assault was made. 
Conducted with the utmost gallantry, it failed ; 
yet victory was almost within grasp. Mont- 
gomery fell dead -at the head of his column, 
Arnold was severely wounded, and Morgan, 
fighting desperately at the head of his brave 
Virginians, was compelled to surrender to a 
superior force. 

With the remnant of his troops, Arnold, re- 
tiring three miles up the river, maintained the 
siege of Quebec during the winter. In the 
spring of 1776, General Thomas came to his 
assistance with some four hundred men; but 
several vessels suddenly appearing with rein- 
forcements for the enemy, the siege was raised 
and the army, under the direction of Thomas, 
hastily fell back to Sorel. Here the small-pox 
broke out among the troops. Great numbers 
were carried off, and among the rest General 
Thomas. At length, meeting with disaster after 

23 



266 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1776. 

disaster, the northern army rapidly, but in good 
order, retreated from Canada, which again fell 
completely into the possession of the British. 

On the 7th of June, the subject of American 
independence was for the first time formally 
introduced into Congress. At the election in 
May previous, the voters of Massachusetts had 
unanimously instructed their representatives in 
favour of it. On the 4th of July following, the 
Declaration of Independence, as drawn up by 
Thomas Jefierson, of Virginia, was adopted and 
signed by nearly every member present in 
Congress. 

The result of the campaign of 1776 was cheer- 
less. Canada had been lost ; and following up 
his advantage, Carleton had driven the northern 
army into Ticonderoga, capturing Crown Point 
and defeating Arnold in a naval engagement, 
by which the British won the command of Lake 
Champlain. In the mean time, Washington had 
been compelled to evacuate New York. Howe, 
with twenty-four thousand well-trained troops, 
having gained a signal victory over Putnam on 
Long Island, now occupied that city. Defeat 
after defeat pressed upon Washington, whose 
entire combined army was less than twenty 
thousand undisciplined and frequently dissatisfied 
men. At length, with some three thousand 
tentless, blanketless, and illy clad troops, he 
retreated across the Jerseys, hard pushed by 



1776.] SKIRMISH AT PRINCETON. 267 

Cornyrallis, with a force in every way superior. 
On the 7th of December, he took up a position 
on the west bank of the Delaware river opposite 
to Trenton, which town was immediately occu- 
pied by the advanced guard of Cornwallis, com- 
posed of about fifteen hundred Hessians. The 
deepest gloom now took possession of the hearts 
of the people ; but a brilliant movement of the 
commander-in-chief aided greatly in restoring 
confidence. On Christmas night, recrossing the 
Delaware, then full of floating ice, nine miles 
above Trenton, Washington fell at daybreak the 
next morning upon the Hessians quartered in 
the town, and took two-thirds of their number 
prisoners with the loss of but four men, of whom 
two were frozen to death. Alarmed by so vi- 
gorous a movement, Howe despatched Cornwallis 
to attack "Washington at Trenton. Rapidly 
moving up in force, the main body of the British, 
on the night of the 2d of January, 1777, were 
encamped in front of the American lines. For 
Washington to retreat was almost impossible, 
and a battle he was not prepared to risk. With 
masterly decision, he resolved upon the bold 
plan of attacking Cornwallis's rear, which was 
at Princeton. The expedient was tried, and it 
succeeded. Three regiments, composing the 
English rear guard, were met near Princeton 
and put to flight, with a severe loss in killed and 
wounded, and three hundred taken prisoners. 



268 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1777. 

Cornwallis immediately fell back to Brunswick, 
while Washington went into winter quarters at 
Morristown. 

In the campaign of 1777, two movements 
occupied the attention of the British. Howe, 
setting out by sea from New York, after several 
vain attempts to baffle the penetration of Wash- 
ington, finally made a landing at the head of 
Chesapeake Bay, from whence he directed his 
march toward Philadelphia. Defeating Wash- 
ington at Brandywine, and surprising Wayne at 
Paoli, the British forces entered Philadelphia on 
the 25th of September. Howe having encamped 
the bulk of his troops at Germantown, Washing- 
ton determined to attack them at that place. 
An attempt to follow out this determination, 
though opening with every prospect of success, 
resulted in his disastrous defeat, with the loss 
of more than a thousand men. Retiring up the 
Schuylkill, Washington established his winter 
quarters at Valley Forge, some twenty miles 
from Philadelphia. 

Meanwhile, the more important movement of 
the British — Burgoyne's attempt to open a com- 
munication between Canada and New York, thus 
forming a cordon, with the assistance of the 
British fleet, around the New England colonies 
— had been signally frustrated by Gates. Leav- 
ing Canada with an admirable army of eight 
thousand men, Burgoyne easily possessed him- 



17T8.] THE CONCILIATORY BILLS. 269 

self of Ticoncleroga. Twelve hundred men 
forming the rear of the retreating garrison, were 
attacked and dispersed. Following up his suc- 
cesses, Burgoyne Avas soon in command of Lake 
George. The defeat of Baum by Stark at Ben- 
nington, which was the first check to his career 
of victory, revived the sinking spirits of the 
Americans. Burgoyne's Indian allies and Cana- 
dian troops now began to desert him. Finally, de- 
feated and hemmed in on all sides, with his ranks 
thinning daily, and his provisions and supplies 
failing, and hopeless of succour, on the 17th of 
October he surrendered to Gates. By this im- 
portant victory, five thousand six hundred men, 
together with a large quantity of arms, artillery, 
and other military stores, fell into the hands of 
the Americans. 

Previous to any military operations of import- 
ance in the campaign of 1778, copies of the 
conciliatory bills brought into parliament by 
Lord North, were received in America. By 
these bills, the primary question in dispute — the 
right of parliament to tax the colonies — was 
virtually relinquished ; and a proposition ofi"ered 
for a treaty to renew the allegiance of the colo- 
nies to the crown. 

Ever since the commencement of hostilities, 
the American commissioners in Paris had been 
vainly endeavouring to procure the assistance of 
France. Immediately on learning that the con- 

23* 



270 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1778. 

^iliatory bills were likely to receive the sanction 
of parliament, Vergennes, the French minister, 
expressed to the commissioners the desire of 
France to treat with America. Accordingly, 
two treaties were drawn up — one of friendship 
and commerce, the other of defensive alliance. 
By these treaties, which were speedily ratified 
by Congress, the whole effect of the conciliatory 
bills, whatever it might have been, was neutral- 
ized. The determination of the Americans to 
win their independence remained intact. 

France was now to enter into the contest. 
Fearful of being blockaded by a French fleet, 
Howe thought it best to evacuate Philadelphia. 
Going himself by sea to New York, he left 
Clinton to lead the army across the Jerseys. 
Washington immediately started in pursuit of 
Clinton. Coming up with him at Monmouth, 
a sharp action began, but it was broken off with- 
out any decided advantage to either party, by 
the approach of darkness. During the night, 
the British quietly retreated to the highlands 
of Nevisink, where they took up a strong posi- 
tion, and were soon afterward transported by 
Howe's fleet to New York. 

Washington crossing the Hudson, encamped 
at White Plains. Having been notified of the 
arrival of Count D'Estaing with a French fleet 
consisting of twelve ships of the line and four 
frigates, on board which were four thousand 



1778.] RETREAT OF SULLIVAN. 271 

soldiers, WasLington prepared for a movement, 
in co-operation with D'Estaing, against New 
York. Compelled to abandon this design, ho 
turned his attention toward Newport, which was 
now occupied by six thousand British troops 
under Pigot. Sullivan, to whom the demonstra- 
tion against Newport was intrusted, speedily 
collected five thousand New England militia, to 
which were added continentals sufficient to swell 
his army to double that number. Every thing 
was prepared for the attack, with the most san- 
guine expectations of success. But D'Estaing, 
who was to co-operate with the land forces, had 
put to sea in search of the fleet of Admiral Lord 
Howe. At the moment the two navies were 
about to engage, a terrible storm arose, separat- 
ing the combatants, and so badly damaging the 
fleet of D'Estaing that he notified Sullivan, who, 
in the mean time, had crossed to the island and 
advanced to within two miles of Newport, that it 
was absolutely necessary for him to go into Bos- 
ton for repairs. Reluctantly Sullivan abandoned 
his works and slowly retired, fighting with the 
British to the head of the island, whence he 
efi'ected a safe retreat to the main land. The 
year closed without any other military operations 
of importance. In November, there were appre- 
hensions of an attack upon Boston. But the 
British fleet under Admiral Byron, which gave 
cause for this alarm, was dispersed by a storm, 



272 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1779. 

and one of tlie vessels wrecked on Cape Cod. 
Washington soon after went into winter quarters 
at Middlebrook, his left wing resting at Danbury, 
in Connecticut, and his right at Elizabethtown, 
New Jersey. 

Despairing of subjugating the northern colo- 
nies, upon whose shores they found it impossible 
to gain more than an occasional foothold, which 
it required all their efforts to keep, the British, 
in 1779, directed their endeavours against the 
south. During the year, a marauding expedi- 
tion was fitted out against Virginia. Beyond 
ravaging the sea-coast towns, by which a large 
amount of private and public property was de- 
stroyed, little of importance was effected. An 
invasion of Georgia was more successful. Sa- 
vannah, and, soon after, the whole province, fell 
into the hands of the enemy. Lincoln, in co- 
operation with D'Estaing, subsequently attempted 
to retake Savannah, but failed with a heavy loss. 
Meanwhile, Massachusetts had despatched an 
expedition to dislodge the British from a fort 
they had erected and garrisoned on the Penob- 
scot. This, too, was defeated, with a loss of 
nineteen vessels, large and small, composing the 
naval portion of the expedition. 

Early in the succeeding year, Sir Henry 
Clinton vigorously pushed the conquest of South 
Carolina. On the 7th of April, he appeared 
before Charleston with some seven thousand 



1779.] FRENCH FLEET IN NEWPORT. 273 

troops. After an obstinate resistance of more 
than a month, finding further attempts to hold 
the town useless, Lincoln, who had charge of 
the defence, capitulated, the garrison to be 
treated as prisoners of war. Following up this 
victory, Clinton soon overran the entire province, 
making a complete conquest. Re-establishing 
the royal government, and leaving Cornwallis to 
keep possession, he returned to New York, 
Gates, presently appointed by Congress to com- 
mand the army in the South, was signally de- 
feated during the following August by the British 
under Rawdon and Cornwallis at Camden. His 
army w^as entirely broken up. This disaster led 
to his removal from command, and Greene, who 
was named his successor, toward the close of 
the year, while Cornwallis was preparing for the 
invasion of North Carolina, made his appearance 
in the American camp at Charlotte. 

At the north, the campaign was feebly carried 
on by both parties. Beyond the skirmishes 
between outposts and foragers, no engagements 
of importance took place. Six thousand French 
troops under Rochambeau arrived on the 10th 
of July, together with a considerable fleet. 

Washington had projected, with their assist- 
ance, an attack upon New York ; but the British 
fleet being reinforced, outnumbered that of the 
French sufficiently to drive them into Newport 
— abandoned during the previous year by the 



274 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1781. 

English — where they forced them to remain in 
a state of blockade. About the same time, John 
Hancock was elected the first governor under 
the new constitution of Massachusetts, which 
had just received the sanction of the people. 

Perhaps at no period of the war had the pros- 
pect of the ultimate success of the struggle for 
independence appeared so gloomy as at the 
opening of the campaign of 1781. Arnold's 
treason the previous year, though productive of 
no obvious advantage to the English, had struck 
a chill into the hearts of the Americans ; and a 
defection in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey 
troops, which was with difficulty suppressed, 
evidenced a lamentable weakness highly encou- 
raging to the hopes of the enemy. 

Early in January, Cornwallis, previous to 
marching in pursuit of Greene, despatched Colo- 
nel Tarleton, a brave but rash and impetuous 
cavalry officer, against Morgan, who at this time 
was carrying on a partizan warfare in the western 
part of South Carolina. Tarleton being defeated 
at the Cowpens, with a loss of half his men, 
Cornwallis immediately started in pursuit of 
Morgan, who was soon after joined by Greene. 
A series of rapid movements now took place, 
which resulted in the battle of Guilford Court 
Hou^e. Though victory remained with Corn- 
wallis, he was obliged to fall back. Greene 
immediately came to the bold determination of 



1781.] COR^fWALLIS AT YORKTOWN. 275 

crossing into South Carolina and attacking 
Rawdon, who, with nine hundred men, was 
posted at Camden. By this movement he hoped 
to draw Cornwallis out of North Carolina. Dis- 
covering Greene's design too late to frustrate it, 
Cornwallis made a rapid northward march and 
joined Arnold and Phillips, who were ravaging 
Virginia. Meanwhile, Greene persevered in his 
design against Rawdon, and, though several 
times defeated, forced the latter to abandon his 
outposts and retire to Charleston ; so that South 
Carolina was once more in a great measure re- 
lieved of the presence of the enemy. 

Lafayette, who had been sent into Virginia to 
oppose the advance of Cornwallis, finding his 
force entirely too weak to risk an engagement, 
was compelled to retreat toward the Rappahan- 
nock, where he formed a junction with Wayne, 
at the head of about a thousand of the Pennsyl- 
vania line. The British general made immediate 
pursuit ; but receiving orders from Clinton, who 
apprehended an attack upon New York, to take 
up a safe position and there await further direc- 
tions, he withdrew to the peninsulas of York and 
Gloucester. Here he concentrated his entire 
army, eight thousand strong, fortifying his posi- 
tion by a line of formidable redoubts. Wash- 
ington, who had for some time meditated an 
attack upon New York, now determined to strike 
a blow at Cornwallis. Secretly and with great 



276 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1782. 

rapidity, before Clinton was aware of his move- 
ment, he had joined Lafayette at Williamsburg 
with the combined French and American forces. 
De Grasse, with a large French fleet, having 
cut off Cornwallis's retreat by water, the allied 
armies commenced a vigorous siege. After sus- 
taining their assault with gallantry for nearly 
three weeks, the British were compelled on the 
16th of October, greatly to their humiliation, to 
surrender as prisoners of war. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Prospects of peace — Memorial of the general court — Right of 
the fisheries — Exhausted 'condition of the confederated 
states — Disaffection in the American army — Peace pro- 
claimed — Difficulties in Massachusetts — Indebtedness of the 
State — Popular discontent — 'Bowdoin chosen governor — His 
address to the people — National convention called — State 
convention at Hatfield — Internal discord — Popular disturb- 
ances — Action of the legislature — Riots at Worcester — 
Daniel Shays the popular leader — Proposes to march to 
Boston — Winter quarters of the rioters — Their conduct at 
Springfield — The militia called out — Armory at Springfield 
attacked— Defeat of the insurgents — Petition for pardon- 
Activity of General Lincoln — Capture of the rioters — Re- 
storation of tranquillity. 

Early in 1782, peace became a matter of 
confident hope. The popular feeling in England 
was evidently against continuing hostilities. A 



1783.] PROSPECTS OF PEACE. 277 

change in the ministry had consequently taken 
place, and a majority of the members of tho 
new cabinet were favourably disposed toward 
the American confederacy. Powers of ne- 
gotiation, with a view to the adjustment of 
difficulties, had likewise been delegated by 
Conorress to our ambassadors in France and 
Holland. 

The chief object to be secured in such negotia- 
tions was entire independence. Many questions 
of minor importance were also to be settled; 
among others, that of the fisheries, which inti- 
mately concerned a large class of the citizens 
of Massachusetts. Through a memorial of the 
general court, Congress was led to instruct its 
ambassadors ''to contend for a right to the 
fisheries on the Banks of Newfoundland and in 
the North American seas." Though not urged 
as absolutely necessary to the conclusion of 
peace, this right was obtained with but little 
trouble ; and, at the same time, the important 
privilege was secured of taking and curing fish 
on some of the British coasts. 

While negotiations for peace were going on, 
and after it had been rendered almost certain 
that an amicable settlement would be made, tlie 
states, in their individual and confederated 
capacities, were busily engaged in examining 
the condition in which the struggle had left their 
financial departments. The public treasury was 

24 



278 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1783. 

found to be exhausted, and claims, numerous 
and urgent, were constantly pouring in. A 
large proportion of these was for wages due the 
troops then about to be disbanded, many of them 
nearly destitute of the means of subsistence. 
Congress at that time was utterly unable to liqui- 
date more than a small part of these demands. 
"When this fact became known, some of the less 
thoughtful soldiers inconsiderately, and urged on 
by pressing need, formed the resolution of not lay- 
ing down their arms until the whole amount of 
their claims was discharged. Happily, through 
the vigorous exertions of General Washington 
and other influential ofiicers, among whom were 
General Knox and Colonel Brooks, of Massa- 
chusetts, this resolution, so threatening to the 
safety of the infant republic, was finally aban- 
doned. 

At length, late in 1783, the joyful intelligence 
was received that an honourable peace had been 
definitely concluded on the 3d of September of 
that year. 

Thus was secured independence, the object of 
eight years of struggle, attended with the utmost 
toil and privation, and made glorious by innu- 
merable instances of patriotic devotion. It now 
remained to be shown that independence could 
be maintained. The problem was to be solved 
whether states, with interests so various and 
conflicting as those at work in the confederacy, 



1783.] DIFFICULTIES IN THE STATE. 279 

could move together as harmoniously in peace as 
they had in war. Many causes were against 
the solution of this question in a manner grati- 
fying to the patriot and to the lover of freedom. 
Chief among these was the exhausted condition 
of the state and national treasuries. This, to- 
gether with others less operative and immediate, 
for a time threatened a result of the most dis- 
astrous character. But, in the end, patriotism 
rose superior to self-interest and the jealousies 
of states ; and the foundations of our country, 
though laid in a period of stormy dissension, 
were only made firmer and more durable in 
consequence. 

Massachusetts, to a greater extent, perhaps, 
than any of her sister states, had, after the con- 
clusion of hostilities, to struggle with internal 
difficulties growing out of the war of independ- 
ence. To the public service she had contributed 
largely, both in men and money. Between eight 
and nine thousand of her citizens had perished 
in the revolutionary contest ; and she was now 
labouring under a heavy debt incurred in main- 
taining her own troops, and in furnishing her 
quota of the expenses of the confederacy. To 
discharge this debt, resort was had to taxation, 
which, though extremely burdensome, was, for a 
short period, borne with commendable fortitude. 

Within two years subsequent to the treaty of 
peace, however, the feeling of universal joy 



280 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1785. 

whicli that event had created, began to subside, 
and a growing tendency to dissatisfaction was 
manifested among all classes of the community. 
The state, on her own account, was in debt five 
millions of dollars ; her proportion of the con- 
tinental debt was nearly as much more. Her 
credit was low and utterly unsatisfactory to 
those who were clamorously presenting their 
demands against it ; the burden of taxation was 
becoming more and more insupportable ; and the 
manufacturing interests of the commonwealth 
were compelled to struggle on against a heavy 
and almost unrestricted importation of British 
and other foreign goods. These evils, and others 
originating from them, were hard to bear. Self- 
interest in individuals may be at all times second 
to patriotism ; but, in the masses, this is only 
the case in moments of great public danger. 
Hence it was but natural that a spirit of dis- 
content should spring up among the people. 

At this critical period, early in the year 1785, 
Mr. Bowdoin was chosen by the legislature to 
occupy the gubernatorial chair, then left vacant 
by the resignation of Governor Hancock, who, 
having been for the last ten years arduously 
engaged in the public service, deemed that an 
interval of repose was absolutely necessary for 
the restoration of his shattered health. 

With the spirit of discontent above mentioned, 
expressing his firm conviction of the existence of 



1785.] BOWDOIX'S ADDRESS. 281 

evils, yet entertaining various and conflicting 
opinions as to what would most effectually obviate 
them, the new governor, at the very outset of 
his administration, found himself obliged to con- 
tend. At once to remove every cause of com- 
plaint was impossible. He therefore urged upon 
the people the necessity of patience. While 
acknowledging that the burden of their taxes 
was indeed heavy, he bade them remember that 
it was the price of their independence. He 
animadverted against the extravagant importa- 
tion of foreign goods, by which the commonwealth 
was drained of her specie, her manufactures re- 
tarded, and her merchants hampered by debts 
contracted with foreign dealers. In speaking 
of the commercial regulations of Great Britain, 
which were at that time selfish and monopolising, 
and highly injurious to the interests of the New 
England states, he lamented that Congress had 
not been invested with sufficient powers to regu- 
late our commercial intercourse with foreign 
nations ; and advised the general court to take 
measures for obtaining a national convention, to 
which the question of enlarging the powers of 
the confederacy might be referred. 

Pursuant to the governor's recommendation, 
the general court immediately adopted several 
measures calculated to obviate, in some respects, 
the difficulties under which the state then la- 
boured. They also passed resolutions favourable 

24* 



282 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1786. 

to a convention of delegates from all the states, 
for the purpose of amending the Articles of 
Confederation, in accordance with the views 
expressed by Governor Bowdoin. These resolu- 
tions were transmitted to Congress, with the 
request that that body would take the subject 
into consideration. 

This question, meanwhile, had been agitated 
throughout the several states. That the Articles 
of Confederation were insufficient for their great 
design, was the opinion of every reflecting per- 
son. ^Yith regard to the regulation of commerce, 
they were thought to be particularly defective. 
Consequently, Avhilst, in January, 1786, the 
Legislature of Massachusetts was meditating the 
passage of a bill giving Congress complete 
and unconditional power to regulate foreign 
commerce, a proposition was made by the as- 
sembly of Virginia for a convention of commis- 
sioners from the several states, to meet at 
Annapolis, Maryland, in order to take measures 
for revising and amending the plan of federal 
government. Commissioners from six states 
accordingly met at the place appointed, in Sep- 
tember, 1786 ; but finding themselves too few in 
number to carry out any definite and efiectual 
measures, after recommending a convention of 
delegates from all the states, to meet at Phila- 
delphia in the following May, they resolved to 
adjourn. 



1786.] DISCONTENT AMONG THE PEOPLE. 283 

Early in the summer of 1786, soon after the 
re-election of Governor Bowdoin by a large ma- 
jority of the popular vote, there were numerous, 
symptoms manifested that a crisis was fast ap- 
proaching; which, without an uncommon degree 
of wisdom on the part of the rulers of the com- 
monwealth, and of patriotic fortitude and calm- 
ness upon that of her well-disposed citizens, 
could not otherwise terminate than in the most 
deplorable anarchy. That discontent which had 
been but partially quieted in the previous year, be- 
gan again to show itself alarmingly, and with re- 
doubled violence of complaint. To enumerate 
all the causes alleged for this discontent is, per- 
haps, unnecessary. The single fact that the 
taxes were extremely high and burdensome, may 
be enough to account for it all. For the present 
year, the sum to be raised by taxation was almost 
a million and a half of dollars : but little less 
than four dollars for every man, woman, and 
child in the state. There was scarcely any 
specie in the country ; and, consequently, the 
mercantile and agricultural classes, on whom the 
great burden of taxation fell, found themselves 
continually increasing their indebtedness to the 
commonwealth, from an inability to discharge 
their dues in legal currency. 

Dissatisfaction at length rose to such a height 
that, early in August, 1786^ a convention, com- 
posed of delegates from some fifty towns in the 



284 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1T86. 

county of Hampshire, met at Hatfield, "to con- 
sider and provide a remedy for the grievances 
they suffered." Having disavowed any illegal 
intentions, and declared itself constitutional, the 
convention prepared a long list of grievances, 
and then adjourned, after a session of three 
days. A few weeks subsequent a body of fifteen 
hundred armed men collected at Northamp- 
ton, the shire-town of Hampshire county, and 
forcibly prevented the sitting of the Court of 
Common Pleas, which judicial tribunal, on ac- 
count of the expense incurred in maintaining it, 
the convention had declared to be unnecessary 
and injurious. A proclamation was immediately 
issued by the governor, forbidding all such un- 
lawful combinations, and asking the aid of every 
good citizen in their suppression. Little effect 
was produced by this document. Dissatisfaction 
and misrule rapidly spread themselves through- 
out the western counties of the state. On va- 
rious occasions, and at different places, the 
sittings of the court were prevented or broken 
up. In some few cases the militia were called 
out ; and, by their prompt action, legal proceed- 
ings were enabled to go on. As yet, however, 
no blood had been shed. Where there was no 
military force for their protection, the courts 
prudently adjourned upon the appearance of the 
insurrectionists ; and, where the troops were nu- 
merous, the latter made no demonstrations that 



1786.] ACTION OF THE LEGISLATURE. 285 

could warrant the exercise of military rule. On 
one occasion, the insurgents collected at Taunton, 
in order to prevent the sitting of the court, the 
military force to guard which was inferior to 
them in point of number. General Cobb, com- 
mander of the militia, and judge of the court, 
approaching the malecontents, declared to them 
that <'he would sit as a judge, or die as a gene- 
ral." Knowing him to be a man as true to his 
word as he was courageous in spirit, the insur- 
gents quietly separated. 

At the close of September, the legislature 
convened in special session. After adopting a 
law against illegal and riotous assemblies, and 
suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas 
corpus for a period of eight months, acts were 
passed to redress, as far as possible, the real 
grievances of which the people complained. 
Among others, bills for allowing debtors to dis- 
charge executions with real or personal estate ; 
for paying part of the state tax in specific 
articles instead of specie ; and for appropriating 
certain revenues, formerly pledged to other pur- 
poses, to defraying governmental expenses — thus 
rendering the necessity for collecting the direct 
tax less urgent. Lenient conditions, insuring 
full pardon for past offences, were also offered 
to the insurgents. 

Up to this time the government had carried 
out no measures of a severe or stringent cha- 



286 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1786. 

racter. It was felt by the executive authority 
that the people, though rash and inconsiderate 
in their conduct, were yet ui'ged to action only 
by the force of great and pressing evils. A 
mild course had, therefore, been deemed advisa- 
ble. Strenuous efforts had been made, however, 
to enlighten the disaffected with regard to the 
causes of their grievances, and to show them 
that time was required for their complete abate- 
ment ; and thus, it was hoped, the insurgents 
would become conscious of their folly and 
wickedness, and be led to disperse quietly and of 
their own accord. 

But, however much the great body of the 
discontented may have been disposed to respect 
the leniency, and yield to the arguments and 
persuasions of the governor and his advisers, 
their leaders were only encouraged to inflame 
them the more. Matters continued to increase 
in seriousness. At length some of the most 
prominent of those engaged in disturbing the 
courts were arrested, and lodged in jail at Boston. 
Soon afterward the insurgents assembled, nearly 
a thousand strong, at Worcester, where the court 
had just adjourned, and placed guards over 
those houses where the judges resided who yet 
remained in town. Otherwise, with the excep- 
tion of their billeting themselves upon the inha- 
bitants, their conduct was moderate and inof- 
fensive. 



1786.] MILITIA CALLED OUT. 287 

While the insurgents were at Worcester, it 
was proposed by one Daniel Shays, who had 
taken command of the entire force, that they 
should march to the deliverance of the prisoners 
confined at Boston. As they had been receiving 
constant accessions to their number, he did not 
deem the design an impra^jticable one. For- 
tunately for themselves, and for the common- 
wealth, perhaps, it was not acted upon, and 
many of the malecontents returned to their 
homes. Those remaining, with Shays at their 
head, repaired to an old revolutionary barracks, 
some twelve miles distant, where they took up 
their quarters. It was the middle of December, 
and the weather was remarkably cold. The in- 
surgents, in consequence, suffered severely, not 
only from the rigour of the season, but also from 
a scarcity of provisions. Whatever they may 
have undergone, it does not seem to have de- 
terred them from pursuing the line of conduct 
they had marked out. Near the close of the 
month they made their appearance at Springfield, 
where the court was about sitting, took posses- 
sion of the court-house, and prevented all judi- 
cial proceedings. 

To this last act of violence the forbearance 
of the governor was compelled to yield. He im- 
mediately issued a call for raising a large body 
of militia. Alarmed by the promptitude with 
which this call was answered, the insurgents 



288 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1787. 

were led to prepare and forward to the governor 
a petition for pardon ; but he, deeming this docu- 
ment highly offensive and dictatorial in its style 
and language, did not think it compatible with 
the dignity of the state to give them any hopes 
of pardon upon the conditions which they at- 
tached to it. 

Until toward the close of January, 1787, no 
collision took place between the militia and the 
insurgents. Desiring possession of the military 
arsenal at Springfield, a post of no mean import- 
ance, a considerable force of the insurgents 
marched to attack that place. General Shepard, 
who, with about one thousand militia had been 
stationed at Springfield, on their approach, sent 
them repeated messages, warning and entreating 
them not to persist in their attempt. No effect 
being produced by these, blank cartridges were 
fired at the deluded multitude, but likewise to 
no purpose. Whereupon General Shepard or- 
dered a few guns to be discharged directly into 
their ranks. Three of the insurgents fell dead 
at the first fire, when the remainder, hastily, 
and in extreme confusion, retreated to a neigh- 
bouring town. 

The result of this affair seems not to have 
greatly disheartened the insurgent leaders, who 
still rallied around their standards large num- 
bers of the people. On the 4th of February 
following, the general court declared the exist- 



1787.] ACTIVITY OF LINCOLN. 289 

ence of a "dangerous rebellion" in the common- 
wealth. Meanwhile the militia and the "rebels" 
had been marching and countermarching, though 
without at any time coming into actual collision. 
Both parties, however, were much distressed bv 
the severity of the season. 

Soon after the declaration of the general 
court, that body received a petition from the 
insurgents, in which, after acknowledging their 
error in forcibly opposing the government, 
yet insisting that they had cause to complain 
of grievances which ought to have been re- 
dressed, they promised to lay down their arms 
and disperse, provided pardon was granted to 
them for the past. The general court replied 
that they could not listen to a petition presented 
by men with arms in their hands ; and that no 
pardon could be assured to leaders "justly 
chargeable with the aggravated crime of rebel- 
lion, after repeated warnings, and former assur- 
ances of clemency." 

A few days subsequent to the reception of 
this petition. General Lincoln, under whose com- 
mand was a considerable military force, having 
learned that the main body of the rebels was 
collected at Petersham, resolved to make an at- 
tack upon that place. Accordingly, after a 
rapid and painful night-march through a deep 
snow, he suddenly entered the town about day- 
break. The insurgents, who had not received 

25 



290 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1787. 

the slightest intelligence of his approach, were 
too surprised to offer any serious resistance, and 
fled in various directions, and in the utmost dis- 
order. One hundred and fifty were made prison- 
ers. Of the remainder, a large proportion either 
returned to their homes or left the state. 

This energetic conduct completely destroyed 
the formidable character of the insurrection. 
Several collisions, however, afterward took place 
between straggling parties of the insurgents and 
the state authorities. In one of these, the former 
left upon the field two of their number dead, and 
as many as thirty wounded. In September, tran- 
quillity was so far restored, that it was deemed 
safe to disband what few troops yet remained 
in service. Previously, in May, a pardon had 
been granted to all engaged in the insurrection, 
who should within three months take the oath of 
allegiance, with the exception of nine persons. 
Of the nine excepted in this pardon, and who 
were then under sentence of death, four were 
subsequently liberated, and one condemned to 
hard labour in confinement. The others made 
their escape from prison, and took refuge in a 
neighbouring state. 



1787.] HANCOCK RE-ELECTED. 291 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Delegates sent to the national convention — Hancock re-elected 
governor — Adoption of the federal constitution — Formation 
of parties — Fervid political discussions — Federalists and 
anti-federalists — Virginia calls for a new convention — 
Amendments to the constitution by Congress — Reviving 
prosperity in Massachusetts — Agriculture and manufactures 
encouraged — Death of Hancock — Samuel Adams elected 
governor — National difficulties with France and England — 
Treaty stipulations with France — Arrogant conduct of 
Genet — Washington's policy of neutrality approved — Sym- 
pathy for the French republic — Rejoicings in Boston — Hamil- 
ton's funding system — Sustained by Washington — Federal 
and republican differences — Party rancour and animosity — 
Charges against the Federalists and Republicans — Jay's 
treaty — Its reception in Massachuse^tts — Denounced by the 
Republicans — Ratified by the senate — Riotous proceedings. 

Meanwhile, the legislature had, in March, 
decided to send delegates to the national con- 
vention to be held at Philadelphia in the follow- 
ing May. An election had also taken place, 
in April, which resulted in the choice of Mr. 
Hancock as governor. 

On the meeting' of the legislature in October, 
Governor Hancock presented to that body the 
new Federal Constitution, then recently adopted, 
after a stormy and protracted session, by the 
convention previously appointed. This consti- 
tution had been, in September, laid before 



292 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1788. 

congress, which, after considerable hesitation 
and debate, forwarded a copj of it to the several 
legislatures, with a recommendation that state 
conventions should be called to decide upon its 
adoption or rejection. For securing its adoption, 
the consent of nine states was necessary. Pur- 
suant to the request of congress, the general 
court called a state convention, and notified the 
towns to elect delegates. 

With regard to the action of this convention, 
which met at Boston in January, 1788, much 
anxiety was manifested by the friends of the 
federal constitution throughout the confederacy. 
Of the three hundred and sixty delegates com- 
posing it, there was considerable doubt whether 
more than a very small majority, if even that, 
were in favour of* the new compact. But after 
a discussion of several weeks, the arguments of 
its friends so far prevailed as to procure its 
adoption by the slender majority of nineteen 
votes. Many amendments, subject, however, to 
the approval of three-fourths of the states, had, 
in the mean time, been made, several of which 
were subsequently embodied in the constitution. 

Though in June, 1788, by the adoption of the 
federal constitution in the states of Virginia and 
New Hampshire, that instrument w^as rendered 
binding on the confederacy, the discussion which 
had sprung up with regard to its necessity, its 
merits and its demerits, continued to be warmly 



1788.] FERVID POLITICAL DISCUSSIONS. 293 

and ably managed. All minor questions of local 
politics became forgotten or were absorbed into 
this neV ground of difference ; and two extensive 
and powerful parties, destined to act conspicuous 
parts in the great drama of popular government, 
rose rapidly into notice. Throughout the entire 
confederacy, there was a numerous and respect- 
able body of citizens who, though feeling them- 
selves bound to acquiesce, for the time being, in 
the will of the majority of their countrymen, did 
not cease to urge earnestly, and with much force, 
their objections to the newly-created bond of 
union. On the other hand, the friends of that 
compact were equally warm and zealous in urg- 
ing its practicability and fitness for all the ends 
of wise and judicious government. 

Whilst the war of independence was being 
waged, political asperity was very great. Mea- 
sures of public policy, during that excited period, 
frequently involved the fortunes, liberties, and 
even lives of those who opposed or abetted them. 
It was now difficult, therefore, for partisans to 
throw aside those habits of rancorous contention 
to which they had been accustomed, and to pur- 
sue that peaceful line of argument demanded 
by the new order of things, and by which alone 
the internal difficulties of popular governments 
should be adjusted. But, passionate as were 
the discussions then carried on between parties, 
and violent as many isolated outbreaks of feeling 

25* 



294 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1788. 

appear to have been, yet tlie sterling good sense of 
the people was never so far perverted as to wholly 
justify the fears of anarchy and consequent ruin 
which we find expressed by many prominent and 
patriotic individuals of that day. 

Of the parties formed at this time, that friendly 
to the constitution styled itself, and was popu- 
larly so called, the Federal party. That based 
upon its opposition to some of the principles of 
the new compact, was, for a short period, known 
as the Anti-Federal party. From the first, 
however, its members appear to have disclaimed 
that title, on the ground that they were not 
inimical to a truly federal government ; and a 
few years later, when the original points of dif- 
ference were fast being obliterated, and the 
popularity of the new constitution completely 
confirmed, they assumed the name of Repub- 
licans. Their principal objections to the federal 
instrument Avere, that the powers intrusted to 
the president and to congress were too exten- 
sive ; and that those powers were secured only 
by weakening the rights of the individual states. 
In both parties, as they thus stood, were extreme 
members ; — ultra Federalists contending that the 
constitution was not yet centralizing enough, 
and that too much power had been left to the 
states and to the people ; and ultra Republicans 
declaring that the action of the convention which 
formed the constitution was unauthorized, and 



1789.] CONSTITUTION AMENDED. 295 

that nothing more had been designed in calling 
that convention than a mere revision or amend- 
ment of the old articles of confederation. 

Though parties were about equally balanced — 
so nearl}^ so, at least, as to render it doubtful at 
first which was the most powerful — no general 
desire was ever evinced to abrogate the consti- 
tution. In Virginia, however, where the re- 
publican party held an undoubted majority, and 
where the talent and wealth of the state, headed 
by the celebrated Patrick Henry, were arrayed 
on its side, it was proposed that another general 
convention should be called to revise the lately 
created compact. This proposition was seconded 
by New York. But no other states could be in- 
duced to unite with them ; for, as was justly 
thought even by many of the republican 
party, such a convention would revive unneces- 
sary discussion, increase the feeling of ani- 
mosity, and, perhaps, result in the destruction 
of the instrument it proposed to amend. Con- 
sequently, it was deemed advisable that all 
amendments should be referred to congress, 
which body, in 1789, adopted twelve out of six- 
teen that were oflfered. 

By the adoption of these amendments, much 
of the partisan asperity of the day was mode- 
rated. Still the period was one of excitement. 
Massachusetts, however, remained comparatively 
quiet. She earlier, perhaps, than her sister 



296 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1793. 

states, began to experience the good effects of 
the changed order of things. Her manufactures 
and' her commerce immediately revived ; and, in 
general, the interests of her people were happily 
promoted. Though greatly in debt, and still 
labouring under a heavy burden of taxes, 
which the assumption of certain state debts by 
the federal government had but slightly allevi- 
ated, she yet seemed to have entered upon a 
new and fresh existence ; and for several years 
her course was unmarked by any thing but peace 
and prosperity. Under the administration of 
Governor Hancock, who for six successive years 
— from 1787 to 1793 inclusive — was chosen 
chief magistrate of the state by large majorities, 
many wise laws, calculated to promote the ad- 
vancement of agriculture, manufactures, and 
education, were proposed and adopted. Politi- 
cally, the state leaned to the federal side. Her 
governor was a moderate member of that party. 
Her men of talent and wealth, unlike those of 
Virginia, were generally Federalists ; and in the 
first election for congressional representatives 
under the new constitution, that party had gained 
a decided triumph. In those districts, however, 
which had been the seat of Shay's rebellion, the 
Republicans closely and, in some instances, suc- 
cessfully contested the political supremacy. 

In the month of October, 1793, Governor 
Hancock died while in office. He had been 



1794.] ADAMS CHOSEN GOVERNOR. 297 

long in the public service, and had given repeated 
proofs of his devotion to the welfare and liberty 
of his state and country. His name stood con- 
spicuous among those who, in the Declaration 
of Independence, had pledged for their country's 
sake " their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred 
honours. ' ' And now, forgetting their differences 
and their prejudices, all parties joined in lament- 
ing his death as a national calamity. 

After the death of Hancock, Samuel Adams, 
then lieutenant-governor, occupied the chief 
magistracy during the remainder of the civil 
year. In 1794, he was chosen governor by the 
people, and continued to hold that office until 
1797. 

One of the first duties devolving upon Gover- 
nor Adams, after taking the chair vacated by 
Mr. Hancock's death, was that of sending to 
the different state legislatures a resolution of the 
Massachusetts general court in favour of amend- 
ing the federal constitution so as to prevent 
states from being sued by individuals, citizens 
of other states. This resolution, which was fa- 
vourably responded to, and, in the end, secured 
its object, had been passed before the death of 
Governor Hancock, was called forth by a decision 
of the Supreme Court, declaring that suits of 
this kind could be sustained. More violent than 
Massachusetts in her opposition to the federal 
judiciary, Georgia, in view of this question, had 



298 HISTORY OP MASSACHUSETTS. [1794. 

enacted a law subjecting to death any person 
serving processes against that state at the suit 
of any individuah 

During the administration of Governor Adams, 
the people of the state and nation became much 
divided with respect to difficulties which had 
arisen between the general government and the 
authorities of Great Britain and France. Un- 
fortunately, our people, whose political differ- 
ences since the Revolution had been excited only 
upon matters of internal policy, were now to 
mingle in a partisan contest, originated and in- 
flamed almost entirely by that species of foreign 
influence of which Washington, in his Farewell 
Address, afterward so affectionately warned them 
to beware. 

France, after a series of sanguinary excesses, 
had proclaimed herself a republic. Shortly sub- 
sequent she declared war against England. Ac- 
cording to treaties made with the late government, 
" French privateers and their prizes were entitled 
to shelter in American ports — a shelter not to 
be extended to the enemies of France;" and the 
United States were also unequivocally bound to 
guarantee the French possessions in America. 
Washington foreseeing that such action, in the 
present state of affairs, would involve the United 
States in the evils and expenses of an European 
war, issued a proclamation of strict neutrality, 
virtually annulling the former treaties with 



1794.] SYMPATHY WITH FRANCE. 299 

France, which, it was contended, had been nego- 
tiated with the empire, and could not therefore be 
insisted upon by the new republic. This procla- 
mation, and the subsequent seizure by the federal 
authorities of French privateers fitting out in 
American ports, aroused the indignation of Genet, 
ambassador from the Directory of France, who 
boldly entered into a contest with the chief 
executive of the United States ; and, encouraged 
by numerous evidences of sympathy from a large 
portion of the people of the country, persisted in 
his poHcy of carrying on, from our ports, a priva- 
teering warfare against Great Britain. 

By a majority, perhaps, of his fellow-citizens, 
the course of Washington was approved. But 
there had been, from the first, among the people 
of the United States, a strong and earnest sym- 
pathy for France in her struggles for liberty. 
The intelligence of the proclamation of the re- 
public had been received with celebrations and 
rejoicings throughout the country. In the city 
of Boston, a barbecue and a distribution of bread 
and punch for the multitude, and a civic feast 
for a select party of three hundred, presided 
over by the then lieutenant-governor, Samuel 
Adams, aff'orded evidence of the general feeling. 
But upon the commencement of the Reign of 
Terror, many of the more thoughtful people be- 
ginning to doubt whether that country was indeed 
beneficially afi'ected by her so-called republican- 



300 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1794. 

ism, were led to express their utter abhorrence 
for her public men and her public measures. 

The original question in dispute between the 
two great political parties — that of the federal 
constitution — was now sunk into insignificance. 
Soon after the organization of the government, 
it had been partially laid aside, and its place 
occupied by Hamilton's funding system — a mea- 
sure supported by the Federalists. Washington, 
though really no partisan, by favouring the 
measure of Hamilton, for whom he entertained 
the strongest personal friendship, identified him- 
self with the federal party; and in opposing 
the arrogance of France and her minister, was 
sustained almost entirely by that organization. 
On the other hand, the Republicans, adverse to 
the administration on questions of internal policy, 
now took sides against it in favour of the French. 
A spirit of bitter animosity pervaded the discus- 
sions which grew out of the new partisan differ- 
ences. Each party accused the other of being 
actuated by motives which, in the end, would 
prove destructive to the country and its liberties. 
Of the Federalists, it was said that their love 
of England was the prime source of their oppo- 
sition to France ; that they hated the mass of 
the people, over whom they wished to raise a 
titled aristocracy; and that they leaned toward 
monarchy, in preference to those principles of 
democracy which had been so nobly contended 



1795.] jay's treaty. 301 

for in the war of independence. Even Wash- 
ington, by some of his more violent political 
opponents, was stigmatized with charges like 
these. But if the Republicans were bitter in 
their denunciations, it can scarcely be said that 
the Federalists were less so. Jefferson and 
other patriots of the Revolution, together with 
the Republican party in a mass, were charged 
with being desirous of carrying out^in America, 
no matter at what risk, the wild and extravagant 
theories, political and religious, then deluging 
with blood the soil of distracted France. 

In keeping alive the contentions of party, to 
the French question was added that relating to 
the commercial treaty negotiated with Great 
Britain in 1795, by John Jay, of New York. Ever 
since the Revolution, the English government 
had been endeavouring to embarrass and cripple 
the commerce of the United States. For that 
end, the most unjust and illiberal regulations 
had been adopted, by which our country was 
rendered, in this respect, but little better than 
a colonial dependency. Besides, that govern- 
ment, by her system of impressment of seamen 
from American vessels, under the pretence that 
they were British born, had made itself highly 
obnoxious. Persons who claimed, as naturalized 
citizens, the protection of our flag, and, too fre- 
quently, Americans by birth, were forcibly 
dragged from our merchant ships and reduced 

26 



302 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1795. 

to the slavery of a British man-of-war. Public 
indignation at repeated outrages of this kind at 
length rose to such a height, that war seemed 
almost inevitable. To avert this, if possible, 
President Washington had sent Mr. Jay as 
special ambassador to the English court, where 
was negotiated the treaty already mentioned. 

Soon after Mr. Jay's return, and before the 
treaty had been ratified, an abstract of its pro- 
visions was made public. Immediately on the 
receipt of this abstract, a meeting was held 
at Boston, by which the treaty was denounced 
as "injurious to our commercial interests, and 
derogatory to the honour and independence of 
the country." A counter meeting was soon 
after called, which uttered sentiments decidedly 
the reverse. 

On this subject it might be said that, to those 
of our people who were convinced that a contest 
with England could no longer be honourably 
avoided — and there were many such — Jay's 
treaty, or any other treaty, would not have been 
acceptable ; while, to such as contrasted the 
blessings of peace with the miseries of war, that 
document, unduly concessive as it might now be 
deemed, could not then be else than politic and 
satisfactory. 

Consequently, as people began to reflect, the 
tide of public sentiment turned in its favour. 
After considerable debate, it was ratified by 



1795.] RIOTS IN BOSTON. 303 

the Senate, and received the signature of "Wash- 
ington. When the news of its ratification became 
known, however, a dangerous and disorderly 
spirit was aroused in various parts of the coun- 
try. For several successive nights, Boston was 
a scene of riot and confusion ; houses were 
mobbed, and some of the public officers were 
personally assaulted. In New York and Phila- 
delphia, similar scenes occurred. But these out- 
breaks, which cannot be adduced as evidences of 
the popular feeling, were soon quieted without 
resort to arbitrary measures. 



804 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1796. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Politics of Massachusetts — Increase of the federal party — Dif- 
ficulties with France — Conduct of the French Directory — 
Return of Pinckney— Decree against American seamen — 
New envoys despatched to France — Negotiations abandoned 
by Pinckney and Marshall — Indignation in America — Pre- 
parations for war — Popularity of the federal party — Pro- 
gress of Massachusetts — "Quasi" war with France — Buo- 
naparte first consul — Treaty of peace — Secessions from the 
federal party — Alien and sedition laws — Denounced by 
Kentucky and Virginia — Defended by Massachusetts — Elec- 
tion of Jefferson to the presidential chair — Rapid decline of 
the federal party — Foreign relations — English aggressions 
— Unsuccessful mission of Monroe and Pinckney — Berlin 
decree and order in council — 'Their effect upon American 
commerce — Affair of the Chesapeake and Leopard — Adop- 
tion of the embargo — Revival of the federal party — The em- 
bargo denounced in Massachusetts — Address of Governor 
Lincoln — Response of the general court — Increase of the 
democratic party in Massachusetts — Efforts of the Federalists. 

In the mean time, notwithstanding the mode- 
rate republicanism of Governor Adams, the po- 
litical sympathies of Massachusetts were inclin- 
ing strongly to the federal party. In the state 
election of 1796, those strong " republican" 
counties in which the rebellion of Shay had been 
most vehemently supported, gave a strong ma- 
jority in favour of Increase Sumner, the federal 
candidate for governor. Sumner was indeed 
defeated in the state at large, but this was owing 



1796.] THE FRENCH DECREE. 305 

more to the personal popularity of Governor 
Adams, than to the strength of the republican 
party.. During the following year, when Governor 
Adams declined being again a candidate, on ac- 
count of his advanced age, Sumner was elected 
by a large majority. 

The increase of the federal party throughout 
the other states had been greatly accelerated by 
the unpopularity into which the ultra republicans 
had fallen, through their sympathy with the acts 
of the French revolutionists. To well-grounded 
complaints of aggressions and spoliations made 
upon our commerce under the sanction of French 
decrees, the responses from France had been at 
all times unsatisfactory, and occasionally insolent. 
Our ambassadors w^ere treated with so much dis- 
respect, that at length Pinckney, who had suc- 
ceeded Monroe as minister from the United 
States, demanded his passports and quitted the 
country. Negotiations were no sooner brought 
thus abruptly to a close, than the French 
government proceeded to evince its hostile dis- 
position by the issue of a decree, under which 
all American seamen found serving on board 
British ships, were to be considered and treated 
as pirates ; so that those men who were already 
the victims of English press-gangs, were now 
subjected to the additional danger of being 
hanged by the French. 

Still anxious, if possible, to avoid an appeal 

26* 



306 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1799. 

to arms, the American executive determined 
upon one more attempt at negotiation. In the 
summer of 1797, Pincknej, Marshall, and Gerry 
. were commissioned as envoys to the Directory 
of France. Their reception was informal, and 
they were subjected to so many indignities, that 
Pinckney and Marshall broke off at an early 
period from all attempt at negotiation. This 
treatment of the American envoys created a 
strong feeling of indignation throughout Ame- 
rica, and the conclusion was, ''that resistance or 
unconditional submission was the only alterna- 
tive left." Even the fierceness of political 
partisanship gave way for a season ; and, with 
the consent of congress, the most energetic pre- 
parations were made for a contest which now ap- 
peared inevitable. Strong, however, as this im- 
pression was becoming, President Adams, while 
encouraging the determined efforts which were 
now making to meet the emergency, did not re- 
lax in his endeavours to effect a settlement of 
the existing difficulties in a pacific and honour- 
able manner. 

During no previous period of its history, had 
the federal party been so strong, nationally, as 
now. In Massachusetts the large increase of 
Eederalists was strikingly exhibited by the ma- 
jorities obtained by Sumner for governor during 
the years 1798 and 1799. At the latter election 
he received three-fourths of all the votes cast. 



1800.] STRONG ELECTED GOVERXOR. 307 

Dying, however, almost immediately after, he 
was succeeded by Moses Gill, the lieutenant- 
governor. 

At this time the commonwealth was flourish- 
ing, and required but little legislation to promote 
and preserve its prosperity. Its commerce, not- 
withstanding the war in Europe, was vigorous 
and growing ; its internal improvements were 
rapidly advancing ; the cause of education was 
carefully promoted ; and, in general, there was 
abundant reason for satisfaction among the 
people. 

In respect to our foreign relations, so far as 
the federal government was concerned, it seem- 
ed almost impossible to avoid a war with France. 
Indeed a "quasi" war was carried on during the 
year 1800, during which many French priva- 
teers and merchant vessels were captured by 
American cruisers. In October, the corvette 
Berceau, after an action of two hours, struck to 
the sloop-of-war Boston, commanded by Captain 
George Little, of Massachusetts. Happily, be- 
fore more imposing demonstrations could be 
made by either nation, Buonaparte, as first con- 
sul, had superseded the French Directory. Ne- 
gotiations were again resumed, and a treaty of 
peace finally concluded. 

In April, 1800, Caleb Strong, the federal 
candidate, was elected governor of Massachu- 
setts over Elbridge Gerry, the republican nomi- 



308 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1800. 

nee ; but although Governor Strong was re- 
elected every succeeding year, the popularity of 
his party gradually declined. Nationally it was 
already greatly weakened ; and in the election 
of Thomas Jefferson to the presidency, its 
power was effectually and finally broken. Though 
the energetic course of Mr. Adams, with respect 
to our relations with France, had for a brief 
period invested himself and the party to which 
he belonged, with an extraordinary degree of 
popularity, other measures, adopted subsequent- 
ly, had drawn upon his administration the oblo- 
quy of a large number of Federalists and Re- 
publicans, who imagined their rights and liberties 
unnecessarily endangered. 

This marked change in public sentiment origi- 
nated in the passage of the Alien and Sedition 
Laws, during the summer of 1798. The main 
object of those famous acts was to give the 
president authority to order out of the country 
such aliens as he might judge dangerous to its 
peace and safety ; to apprehend, secure, or re- 
move all resident aliens, natives, or citizens of the 
hostile nations ; and to sustain prosecution in the 
judicial courts for such publications as might be 
considered libellous on the national government. 

The trial, fine, and imprisonment, under the 
sedition act, of several persons charged with 
having promulgated libels upon the federal au- 
thorities, soon kindled an intense excitement 



1804.] DECLINE OF THE FEDERALISTS. 309 

against the law itself, and the party with whom 
it originated. It was denounced as arbitrary 
and tyrannical ; and even among well-disposed 
Federalists was regarded as impolitic and un- 
necessary. The legislatures of Kentucky and 
Virginia passed resolutions in opposition to the 
measure, but the general court of Massachusetts 
took ground in its defence. Notwithstanding 
this generous support from his own state, the 
laws were so generally unpopular, that Adams 
failed in securing his re-election to the presi- 
dency, and was succeeded by Jefferson. 

The defeat of Adams greatly accelerated the 
decline of the federal party, even in Massachu- 
setts Though strenuously resisted, the Repub- 
licans so rapidly increased, that in 1804, Jeffer- 
son, who had been renominated for the presi- 
dency, received the electoral vote of the state. 
The personal popularity of Governor Strong, 
indeed, secured his re-election for governor the 
following spring by a small majority ; but both 
branches of the legislature were repubhcan, or 
democratic, as that party now began to be 

termed. 

Various measures of minor importance were 
adopted by the government of Massachusetts du- 
ring the two subsequent years, the most prominent 
of which was an act to prevent duelling, a prac- 
tice which, at that time, prevailed to some extent. 
By this law, challengers, those accepting chal- 



810 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1806. 

lenges, together with their respective seconds, 
were made alike punishable for felonious assault, 
and were disqualified from holding any official 
station. 

But while the particular affairs of Massachu- 
setts required no very extraordinary acts of 
legislation, the foreign relations of the country 
at large were beginning to assume a troubled as- 
pect. In our intercourse with Great Britain, 
Jay's treaty had not been observed by the latter 
with that strictness requisite to preserve amity 
between the contracting powers. Bepeated acts 
of aggression committed upon our commerce had 
at length aroused in the public mind a spirit of 
indignation that was daily growing in intensity. 
In August, 1806, Monroe and Pinckney, as joint 
commissioners from the United States, made an 
ineffectual attempt to obtain from Great Britain 
an amicable settlement of the questions in dis- 
pute. Upon most points at issue the prospect 
of a mutual agreement was favourable ; but as 
the English government refused to relinquish the 
disputed right to make impressments upon the 
high seas, the conference finally terminated un- 
satisfactorily. 

On the 21st of November, 1806, while these 
negotiations were pending, Napoleon issued his 
famous Berlin decree ; and, in retaliation, the 
British government extended the operation of a 
previous order in council. Substantially both 



1807.1 EMBARGO ACTS. 311 

measures were alike, in rendering American or 
other neutral vessels having British or French 
merchandise on board, or trading with certain 
specified ports, liable to seizure by the French 
or English naval forces. The direct effect of 
both proclamations was to cripple the commer- 
cial enterprise of the United States. The ill- 
feeling thus strengthened against Great Britain, 
was greatly increased by a wanton and unpro- 
voked attack which was made upon the American 
frigate Chesapeake, by the English sloop-of-war 
Leopard, under the pretence of recovering cer- 
tain men, claimed as deserters from the British 

service. 

From this time all hope of adjusting the 
difficulties with England was abandoned; and 
now commenced that celebrated commercial 
warfare by embargoes and acts of non-intercourse, 
through which it was hoped that both England 
and France would be compelled to adopt a more 
liberal course of policy. The measures, how- 
ever, whatever may have been their merits or 
demerits, were destined to meet with a vigorous 
opposition nearer home; the New England 
States, and especially Massachusetts, becoming 
strenuous advocates for their repeal. 

In the spring of 1807, previous to the adoption 
of the embargo, Sullivan, the republican candi- 
date, was elected governor over Strong. There 
was also a democratic majority in both houses 



812 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1809. 

of the legislature. This was the first time since 
the organization of parties, that all the depart- 
ments of the state had been of that political 
complexion. With the passage of the embargo 
the Federalists began to recover their strength. 
Still, public opinion was fluctuating and undecid- 
ed ; for although, in the spring of 1808, the 
Federalists recovered their former ascendency 
in the legislature. Governor Sullivan secured his 
re-election. Bj the new legislature, the Em- 
bargo Act was denounced in a series of resolu- 
tions, in which its constitutionality was brought 
into question. Indignation against the admi- 
nistration increased as the operation of the 
measure began to affect injuriously the commer- 
cial interests of the state. Evasions of the 
embargo became common. To prevent these, 
the i' Enforcing Act" was passed by the ge- 
neral government in January, 1809. A town 
meeting was held in Boston soon afterward, 
at which this last act was declared unconstitu- 
tional and arbitrary ; and such persons as volun- 
tarily assisted in executing its provisions were 
denounced, as "enemies of the Constitution of 
the United States, enemies of the State of 
Massachusetts, and hostile to the liberties of the 
people." 

Governor Sullivan having died in December, 
1708, he was succeeded by Lieutenant-Governor 
Lincoln, who, in his address to the general 



1809.] REPLY OP THE GENERAL COURT. 318 

court, defended the policy of the federal govern- 
ment, and while exhorting the people to submit 
patiently to the obnoxious laws, took occasion to 
censure the various town meetings which had 
been held throughout the state, as highly im- 
proper and dangerous to the perpetuity of the 
Union. He argued that public measures could 
only be discussed previous to their adoption ; 
that the moment they receive the assent of con- 
gress, they expressed the will of the majority, 
and should be submitted to, otherwise the re- 
publican principles of government were of no 
avail. 

The general court responded to the address in 
no favourable tone ; and while disclaiming all de- 
sire to disturb the integrity of the Union, they 
plainly intimated that they did not consider the 
embargo and its supplement as constitutional 
laws. They also passed a resolution declaring 
the "Enforcing Act" not legally binding; but, 
at the same time, deprecated a forcible resist- 
ance to its execution. On the presidential 
election of the previous year, the effect of the 
dissatisfaction throughout Massachusetts had 
been to give the electoral vote of the state to 
the Federal candidate, who, however, was de- 
feated in the country at large. Notwithstand- 
ing the substitution of the less stringent non- 
intercourse act for the embargo, Gore, the nomi- 
nee of the Federalists, was elected governor in 

27 



814 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1812. 

1809, while the party majority was increased in 
both branches of the legislature. 

Previous to the state election in 1810, the na- 
tional administration having relaxed its restric- 
tions upon commercial pursuits, the politics of 
Massachusetts indicated a decided change in 
favour of the democratic party. Gerry, the 
candidate of the latter for governor, was elected 
by a small majority, and was chosen by increased 
numbers the following year, together with a 
democratic majority in both branches of the 
general court. But in the spring of 1812, the 
Federal party succeeded, by extraordinary exer- 
tions, in wresting the state from the hands of 
the Democrats. They re-elected Strong to the 
office of governor, and obtained a majority in 
the popular branch of the general court. The 
control of the senate still, however, remained in 
the hands of their political adversaries. 



1812.] WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 315 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Declaration of war against Great Britain — Opposition and ad- 
verse resolutions of Massachusetts — Governor Strong's de- 
fence of state rights — Difficulties between the state and na- 
tional authorities — Strength of the peace party in Massachu- 
setts — Distress of <he people along the sea-coast — Clamour 
against the national administration — Massachusetts charged 
with desiring to secede from the Union — Appropriations for 
defence of the state — The war denounced — The manufacture 
of woollen and cotton goods — Embargo Act passed by con- 
gress — Excitement against it in Massachusetts — -Massachu- 
setts supports Vermont in defence of state rights — Conces- 
sion made to the federal authorities — Eastport, Castine, and 
Belfast captured by the enemy — Sloop-of-war Adams burned 
— Machias taken — Additional appropriations made by the 
general court — Hartford convention — Measures advised by 
that body — Subsequent action of congress — Impoverished 
condition of Massachusetts — Treaty of peace — Separation 
from Maine — Convention to amend the state constitution. 

Repeated attempts having failed to procure 
from England an abandonment of her unjust 
claims with regard to the right of search and im- 
pressment ; and as that country still persisted in 
making reprisals upon the commerce of neutral 
nations, congress, finding hostilities could no 
longer be honourably avoided, at length formally 
declared war. 

Intelligence of this important event reached 
Boston on the 23d of June, 1812, while the 



316 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1812. 

general court was in session. The tidings were 
no sooner officially communicated to the latter by 
Governor Strong, than the house of representa- 
tives adopted an address to their constituents, 
denouncing the war as unwise, inexpedient, and 
unnecessary ; and expressing the opinion that 
an amicable and honourable adjustment of the 
existing difficulties might have been made with 
the British government. In opposition to this 
document, emanating from the peace party of 
Massachusetts, the state senate issued an address, 
which asserted in calm, but decided language, 
that the contest was one which could not have 
been, in honour, avoided any longer ; and that 
it was necessary for the preservation of our 
rights and liberties as an independent nation. 

Hostilities had scarcely been declared, before 
a contest commenced between the executives of 
Massachusetts and of the United States, which, 
on the question of state rights, completely re- 
versed the positions primarily occupied by the 
federal and democratic parties. A few days 
previous to the actual proclamation of war, 
Major-General Dearborn, of the regular service, 
by authority of the president, called upon Go- 
vernor Strong for forty-one companies of the 
Massachusetts militia ; eight of which it was 
proposed to march into Rhode Island for the 
defence of that state. To this call the governor 
did not respond. Shortly afterward a second 



1812.] STATE RIGHTS. 317 

requisition was made, which Governor Strong 
declined to obey. His reasons for so doing 
were, substantially, that in his opinion there 
was no constitutional emergency demanding the 
services of the militia, they not being needed to 
enforce the laws of the Union, to suppress in- 
surrection, or to repel invasion. That, as 
things were, the militia being drilled, disciplined, 
and prepared to assemble at the shortest notice, 
for the defence of the state, "it did not seem 
wise to subject the nation to the expense, or the 
citizens to the inconvenience," which would be 
incurred by the proposed call ; and that he 
did not see proper, nor feel constitutionally 
bound, to place the militia under the command 
of regular officers instead of those appointed by 
the state authorities. 

In accordance with these views, he issued a 
general order, calling upon the militia to be pre- 
pared to march at a moment's notice to any part 
of the state which might be threatened with in- 
vasion, but subject only to the direction of their 
own immediate officers. The President of the 
United States, through the secretary of war, 
immediately addressed a note to Governor Strong, 
stating the imminence of the danger, and ur- 
gently requesting him to call out the militia ; 
but the governor, finding that the federal au- 
thorities still persisted in placing the state troops 
under command of officers belonging to the 

27* 



818 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1812. 

regular service, again declined to act. Here 
the matter rested for a time ; but the non-com- 
pliance of the governor met with the severest 
censure from the democratic party, and through- 
out the country both he and the state whose exe- 
cutive officer he was, began to be regarded with 
suspicion and uneasiness. 

It must be confessed, however, that a large 
majority of the people of Massachusetts were 
prepared to sustain the governor in the stand he 
had thus taken. Evidence was soon afforded of 
this in the choice of presidential electors, then, 
for the first time, left immediately to the people ; 
the federal candidates, as the advocates of 
peace, receiving the large majority of twenty- 
five thousand votes. The result of the general 
election was, nevertheless, strongly favourable 
to the continuation of Madison in the presidential 
chair. 

Although, during the early part of the war, 
no invasion of the state was attempted by the 
British, the business pursuits of the people on 
the seacoast were much interrupted. Consider- 
able distress and uneasiness prevailed in conse- 
quence. Complaints against the administration, 
and the policy it had adopted, were heard on 
every side. Even those who had at first joined 
in demanding hostilities, no sooner felt their own 
particular interests injuriously affected, than 
they became vehement in denouncing the contest 



1813.] WAR APPROPRIATIONS. 319 

as one immcdiatelj and seriously retarding the 
prosperity of the state and of the nation. 

From this condition of clamorous disaffection, 
from the sturdy position assumed by Governor 
Strong in defence of state rights, and from the 
refusal of wealthy citizens of the state to loan 
their money to aid in prosecuting the war, the 
people of Massachusetts were charged with being 
desirous of seceding from the Union, and of 
forming, with the other New England states, a 
new and independent confederacy. But this 
charge can scarcely be maintained. That some 
of the ultra peace men were inclined to carry 
out such a measure, may be true ; but, as a 
general sentiment, though opposed to the war 
and believing it to be unwise and uncalled for, 
the people of Massachusetts were not prepared 
to encourage a measure so dangerous as secession. 

Intelligence having been received of the re- 
peal of the British orders in council, hopes were 
entertained of the speedy restoration of peace. 
These, however, were fallacious ; and finding that 
the war must be met, the legislature of Massa- 
chusetts at length began to prepare for the 
emergency. Accordingly, in January, 1813, 
they appropriated one hundred thousand dollars 
to the purchase of firearms and other munitions 
of war, and authorized the governor to appoint 
three commissioners, to be intrusted with the 
defence of the maritime districts. For this 



320 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1813. 

duty, Generals Cobb, Heath, and Brooks, offi- 
cers of the Revolution, were selected. During 
the year, small detachments of militia were called 
out for brief periods, on the application of people 
on the seaboard, in apprehension of an attack 
from British vessels occasionally seen hovering 
on the coast. The appearance of the militia in 
many cases prevented descents which had been 
meditated by the enemy ; but in several instances, 
their vessels entered remote harbours, and an 
indiscriminate plunder of the inhabitants not 
unfrequently followed. 

In the political contests of the commonwealth, 
the Federalists were still triumphant. Governor 
Strong was re-elected in April by a very large 
majority ; and there was, likewise, a predomi- 
nance of that party in both branches of the 
general court. Soon after the commencement 
of its session in June, that body prepared and 
forwarded to the nationallegislature an elaborate 
address, denouncing the war as impolitic, unne- 
cessary, prompted by lust of conquest, ill con- 
ducted, excessively expensive, and jeopardizing 
to interests which New England would never 
consent to see injured. Subsequently, however, 
in view of threatened invasion, resolutions were 
adopted directing the adjutant-general to request 
of the war department an immediate supply of 
arms, to which, according to the law of congress, 
the state was entitled. No attention, however, 



1814.] RISE OF COTTON MANUFACTURES. 321 

was paid to this requisition, and it was not until 
near the close of the war that Massachusetts 
received arms from the general government. 

The dissatisfaction of the people still con- 
tinued, although in the manufacture of woollen 
and cotton goods a new and profitable business 
had sprung up during the war, to which much 
of the present wealth and greatness of Massa- 
chusetts may be attributed. 

In December, 1813, an embargo act, limited 
in its duration to one year, was passed by con- 
gress, which prohibited the coasting trade from 
one port to another in the same state. The 
seafaring classes of the commonwealth became 
greatly excited against this law, and clamorously 
called upon the state government to protect them 
from what they termed a cruel, unconstitutional, 
and malicious measure. Petitions and remon- 
strances continued to be urged against it until 
its repeal early the following year. 

At the commencement of 1814, a resolution 
was offered to the general court, which was 
strongly indicative of the feeling with which the 
federal majority of that body regarded the 
question of state rights; and which also, not 
without good reason, excited considerable alarm 
in the minds of those at the head of the national 
government. A motion being before congress 
to authorize the prosecution of Governor Chit- 
tenden, of Vermont, on account of his late pro- 



822 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1814. 

clamation recalling the militia of that state, a 
resolution was introduced into the Massachusetts 
legislature, expressive of the duty and readiness 
of that commonwealth to aid the governor and 
people of Vermont in maintaining their consti- 
tutional rights, by whomsoever infringed. Hap- 
pily, congress did not act upon its motion, and 
so the resolution was laid on the table. 

In the spring of 1814, Governor Strong was 
again elected. Both houses of the legislature 
were still strongly federal. From his address 
to the general court at its opening in June, it 
was evident that the opinions of the governor in 
regard to the war remained unchanged. In 
response, both houses agreed that, under the 
circumstances, congress had no right to expect 
or demand from Massachusetts any efforts in 
behalf of the war further than she was constitu- 
tionally required to make ; and that the general 
government was not to suppose that her people, 
by quietly submitting to its measures, did so 
either from ignorance of their essential rights, 
or from a fear of asserting them. 

During the months of April, May, and June, 
apprehensions of attack being entertained along 
the sea-coast, large numbers of the militia were 
called into service. At this period, however, the 
fears of the people seem to have been groundless ; 
but, as the number of the enemy's ships on the 
coast had evidently increased, the general court 



1814.] BRITISH DEPREDATIONS. 323 

judged it advisable to make additional prepara- 
tions for defence, and for that purpose one 
hundred thousand dollars was plaoed at the ser- 
vice of the executive. At the same time, ar- 
rangements were made with General Cushing, 
the United States officer in command of the 
district, to call out and assume control over the 
militia of Boston and its vicinity, if it should 
become necessary to repel an invasion. A similar 
arrangement was entered into with General 
Dearborn, who succeeded Cushing shortly after- 
ward : a concession which evinced a disposition 
on the part of the state to act in concert with 
the federal authorities. 

Early in September, a British armament, con- 
sisting of thirty large vessels, set sail from 
Eastport, upon which place they had lately 
seized, and unexpectedly appeared before the 
town of Castine, in the district of Maine, which, 
as well as Belfast, on the opposite shore of 
Penobscot Bay, fell without resistance into the 
hands of the enemy. Soon afterward, commit- 
ting many outrages and depredations on their 
way, they pushed up the river toward Hampden, 
where the sloop of war Adams had been forced 
to take refuge. Finding it impossible to prevent 
the capture of his ship, the commander of the 
Adams was reluctantly compelled to set her 
on fire. After this, the British having left 
a garrison in Castine, proceeded against Ma- 



324 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1814. 

cliias, of which they also took possession without 
loss. 

About this time, Governor Strong addressed 
a letter to the secretary of war, stating the ex- 
penses incurred by the commonwealth in resisting 
invasions of the enemy, and requesting the as- 
sistance of the general government in future 
emergencies. To this letter the secretary re- 
plied, that no expenses for the militia would be 
reimbursed, except in cases where they had been 
called out in compliance with the requisition of 
a federal officer; nor could he promise either 
money or troops for the future protection of the 
people of Massachusetts. 

Regarding the crisis as one in which he could 
not properly assume the whole responsibility, 
the governor, on the 5th of October, convened 
an extra session of the general court to de^dse 
measures for the safety of the commonwealth. 
Resolutions w^ere immediately adopted by both 
branches of that body, expressing the determina- 
tion of the state never to submit to the public 
enemy, and providing that a number of men not 
exceeding ten thousand should be raised to serve 
twelve months, the whole to be organized under 
the direction of the governor. In order to meet 
the expenses thus incurred, the executive was 
authorized to borrow, from time to time, a sum 
of money not exceeding one million of dollars, 
for the payment of which the faith of the state 



1814.] HARTFORD CONVENTION. 325 

■was pledged. A report was also adopted, and 
twelve delegates appointed in accordance with 
it, recommending a convention of deputies from 
the several New England states, to meet and 
confer upon their public grievances ; to devise 
and adopt such measures as they might deem 
expedient for preserving their resources ; and 
for defending themselves against the enemy. 
A further suggestion was made in favour of a 
national convention, for the purpose of revising 
the federal constitution, so as to more effectually 
secure the support and attachment of all the 
people, by placing all upon a basis of fair repre- 
sentation. 

The call for delegates from the New England 
states having been responded to, the convention 
met on the 15th of December, at Hartford, in 
Connecticut. Delegates were present from 
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and 
several counties in New Hampshire, the legisla- 
ture of the latter state having declined acting 
upon the subject. The propriety of such a con- 
vention excited much discussion at the time, and 
has since been frequently and severely criticised. 
It is not to be supposed, however, without more 
conclusive evidence than has yet been given, 
that its object was to foster treason and disunion. 
The measures advised by the convention do not 
sustain the probability of such a design. Certain 
amendments to the constitution were recom- 
28 



326 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1815. 

mended, and Congress was requested to consent 
to an arrangement by which the several states 
represented in the convention might separately 
or in concert assume the defence of their* terri- 
tory at the national expense. Subsequent to 
the peace, congress acted upon this request so 
far as to pass a bill providing for the defence of 
the respective states in the manner already de- 
signated. 

The British being still in possession of Castine, 
it was proposed to Governor Strong by the se- 
cretary of war, that five thousand of the Massa- 
chusetts troops should be called out to assist the 
federal government in an attempt at its recap- 
ture. This the governor declined doing, stating 
as. his reason, that the attempt must fail without 
the co-operation of an effective naval force. 

The winter of 1814-15 was a period of great 
distress and anxiety to the people of Massachu- 
setts. They had become impoverished by the 
long suspension of commerce and navigation ; 
the necessaries of life were held at exorbitant 
prices ; and the prospect of peace was vague and 
uncertain. The finances of the state, too, were 
greatly reduced ; so much so that, in responding 
to a demand for aid from the federal govern- 
ment, the executive of Massachusetts pleaded 
that the state could not possibly spare any part 
of the little she had remaining. Yet the patriot- 
ism of her citizens generally, notwithstanding 



1815.] TIDINGS OF PEACE. 327 

the equivocal position in ^vhich a large majority 
of them appeared to bo placed, cannot well be 
impugned; and although they leaned to the 
opinion that there were sectional views in the 
policy which had been adopted with regard to 
the war, they did not believe that the adminis- 
tration would designedly, and without the strong- 
est motives of public interest, encourage any 
measures which were likely to operate injuriously 
upon any portion of the confederacy. 

Unexpectedly, on Monday, the 13th of Febru- 
ary, 1815, intelligence reached Boston that a 
treaty of peace had been ratified. The general 
court, then in session, celebrated the joyful tid- 
ings by attending religious service. Throughout 
the city there were no sounds heard but those of 
gladness and satisfaction. Eells were rung, and 
a general holiday proclaimed. In the universal 
enthusiasm, party diiferences were forgotten; 
and in the certain prospect of better days, the 
distresses of the people passed from their minds. 

Governor Strong was again elected in 1815 
by a large majority. It may be inferred from 
this, that his course during the war, however 
much censured in other parts of the confederacy, 
was such as met with the approval of those by 
whom he had been so often confirmed in ofiice. 
By his political opponents, it was asserted that, 
in refusing to call out the militia at a period 
of great national danger, he embarrassed the 



328 



HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1816. 



federal administration and gave additional con- 
fidence to the enemies of his country. To this 
his friends replied, that he was bound by his 
oath of office to obey the constitution ; and that 
to call out the militia, except to repel an inva- 
sion of the state, would have been a violation of 
his oath, as well as of the rights of the citizens. 
Others, admitting that the governor was not dis- 
posed to embarrass the national administration, 
disputed the correctness of his opinion in respect 
to his obligations under the constitution. But 
the doctrine maintained by Governor Strong has 
since been advocated by the legislatures of Vir- 
ginia, South Carolina, and Georgia, and was one 
which, not having been hastily formed, he ad- 
hered to through life. 

In 1816, Governor Strong was succeeded by 
General John Brooks, a soldier and statesman 
of judgment and experience. The latter con- 
tinued to receive the suffrages of the people for 
several successive years, until he declined a re- 
election to office in 1823. His conduct in the 
chief magistracy being characterized by dignity, 
honesty, and energy, was acceptable to the great 
body of his fellow-citizens, without distinction 
of party. 

In November, 1816, the legislature appointed 
presidential electors of the federal party, who 
cast their votes for Rufus King, of New York, 
for president, and for John E. Howard, of Mary- 



1820.] STATE CONSTITUTION AMENDED. 329 

land, for vice-president ; but James Monroe, of 
Virginia, was chosen to the chief magistracy by 
a very large majority. 

In the course of the same year, petitions were 
presented to the legislature from a number of 
towns in the district of Maine, in favour of 
forming an independent state out of that portion 
of Massachusetts. When the question was sub- 
mitted to the people, the votes in favour of the 
measure were not sufficiently numerous to induce 
the legislature to sanction it at that time. In 
1819, the question of separation was again 
agitated. The general court was led to give its 
consent on certain conditions relating to public 
lands, and also with the proviso that the majority 
of the citizens of Maine in favour of an independ- 
ent government should not be less than fifteen 
hundred. This majority was obtained, and con- 
gress having given its consent, Maine became a 
separate member of the confederacy in the year 
1820. 

The constitution of Massachusetts was now 
forty years old. The separation from Maine, 
and various other causes, rendered certain altera- 
tions in that instrument both appropriate and 
necessary. In 1820, the legislature submitted 
the question to the people, who decided in favour 
of calling a convention. That body accordingly 
met at Boston in November of the same year. 
It consisted of about five hundred members, 

28* 



330 HISTORY OF MASSACHUSETTS. [1820. 

among whom were some of the ablest and most 
experienced citizens of the state. The venerable 
ex-president, John Adams, was called to the 
chair, but excused himself on account of his age 
and physical infirmities. Chief Justice Parker 
was then chosen. The session continued for 
about seven weeks, during which several amend- 
ments to the constitution were passed, with the 
view of submitting them to the people for their 
sanction or rejection. Of the fourteen articles 
thus submitted, nine were approved by the popu- 
lar voice. 

In 1820, the electors for president and vice- 
president of the United States were chosen by 
the citizens of Massachusetts in districts. The 
electors all voted for Mr. Monroe, the only pro- 
minent candidate before the people. The old 
party grounds had been abandoned, and new 
men and new measures were agitating the popu- 
lar mind, preparatory to that later organization 
of adverse political opinions which resulted in 
the formation of the two parties respectively 
known as Whigs and Democrats. 



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